Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country (America's Haunted Road Trip) - Softcover

Varhola, Michael O.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1578605474 ISBN 13: 9781578605477

Publisher: Clerisy Press, 2015

Synopsis

Settled by Spanish explorers more than three centuries ago, San Antonio has a rich haunted history. Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country by local author Michael Varhola covers 30 haunted locations in or around the cities of San Antonio and Austin and throughout the region known as Texas Hill Country. Each site combines history, haunted lore and phenomena, and practical visitation information. The book is organized into four geographical sections, "City of San Antonio," "Greater San Antonio," "Austin," and "Texas Hill Country." This hands-on guide also includes an introduction to the subject of ghosthunting in the Lone Star State and all the information readers need to visit the places described within it including descriptions of nearly 100 other haunted places.

Sites covered include bridges, churches, colleges and universities, cemeteries and graveyards, government buildings, historic sites, hotels, museums, parks, restaurants and bars, and much more. They include the Crockett Hotel, built on the spot where David Crockett and the final defenders of the Alamo are believed to have been slain; the Ghost Tracks, where spectral children are known to move people's stopped cars and the Devil's Backbone, the haunted highway that wends through the hills north of San Antonio.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Varhola is a writer who has authored or coauthored 34 books and games including the swords-and-sorcery novel "Swords of Kos: Necropolis," and two fantasy writers guides. He has also published more than 120 games and related publications. He is the founder of game company Skirmisher Publishing LLC, editor in chief of d-Infinity game magazine, and editor of the "America's Haunted Road Trip" series of ghosthunting travel guides. He has edited, published, or written for numerous publications, including "The New York Times." He also has an active online presence, notably through Facebook and a variety of other blogs, forums, and sites. He lives in Texas Hill Country."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Chapter III - City of San Antonio

San Fernando Cathedral (Downtown San Antonio)
"It would not be an over-exaggeration to say that San Fernando Cathedral has, literally, been the spiritual and geographical heart of San Antonio for nearly 300 years, and there is even an official seal set into the floor church affirming this. It is, in fact, the oldest active Roman Catholic cathedral in Texas, one of the oldest in all of North America, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and seat of its archbishop.

As one of the oldest extant buildings in the city and the site of what most people today would consider to be some very strange practices, it is perhaps not too surprising that San Fernando Cathedral would have a reputation for spiritual activity. Phenomena people claim to have witnessed at the site include spectral faces appearing on the walls and the apparition of a white horse galloping across the plaza in front of the church. Inside it definitely does, in any event, have a sacred and even otherworldly atmosphere."

Chapter IV - Greater San Antonio

Faust Hotel (New Braunfels)
"In the western literary and occult traditions the name 'Faust' has an ominous connotation, and many people assume that the historic hotel in New Braunfels bearing this moniker received it as a tribute to the paranormal activity associated with the site. It is, however, named for its founder, flesh-and-blood local businessman Walter Faust Sr., rather than a figure out of German legend.

Over the past few decades, the Faust Hotel has increasingly gained a widespread reputation for being haunted and has attracted the attention of various paranormal investigative groups. I have visited the hotel a number of times since 2009 and, among other things, have spent the night at it and conducted investigations on or around Halloween twice and appeared as a guest on the PSI-FI Radio show from it. It has, in fact, become one of my favorite sites in the Greater San Antonio area, not just for the strange things associated with it but also for its colorful history."

Chapter VI - Texas Hill Country

Devil’s Backbone (Blanco County, Comal County, Hays County)
"One of the first places I explored after moving to Texas Hill Country was the Devil's Backbone, a haunted highway that runs along a ridge line that used to serve as a cattle trail and now corresponds to Highway 32. Parts of this road seem mysterious and haunted under the best of conditions, and it is little wonder that it should have ghostly lore associated with it.

Lone hunters and hikers exploring the trails that wind along the slopes of the Devil's Backbone have reported seeing the apparitions of Indians following closely behind them. Some local residents also claim to have seen ghostly cattle ranchers driving their herds through the hills or the ghosts of Spanish monks. Yet others have told of spotting phantasmal troops of Confederate cavalrymen and hearing the sounds of pounding hooves outside their homes but afterward finding no evidence that any horses were actually present."

About this edition

• Publisher: Clerisy Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1578605474
• ISBN 13: 9781578605477
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248