Growing up, Jill Pascoe always enjoyed a good ghost story. But it was the real ghost stories that really piqued her interest. As a museum curator, the Gilbert 30-year-old worked at several museums in historic homes.
Many of the houses were reputedly haunted, and she was always hearing stories about spectral happenings.
These ?real? ghost stories fascinated her so much she decided to collect stories set in public places and write a book about them.
?I always wanted to do books on public places where people could visit,? she said. ?I think some people like these stories because they can know there is an afterlife and people can contact the dead. Other people just like a good scare.?
While living in Louisiana in August 2004, Pascoe selfpublished her first book ?Louisiana?s Haunted Plantations.? The book is available through Amazon.com and her own publishing company, Irongate Press.
New Orleans has been called the most haunted city in America, and with ?lots of talk how every respectable plantation should have a ghost,? Pascoe said she had plenty of material to work with.
In one haunted plantation, she was alone in a room and says she heard breathing behind her. The temperature dropped and she heard a woman?s voice say the name ?Randall,? she said.
?When things happen to me, it?s not too pleasant,? she said. ?It really frightened me.?
Pascoe moved to the Valley 18 months ago when her husband, Josh, received a job promotion. She took some time off when her 16-month-old son, Adam, was born. Then she decided to write another book on the same topic, but this time based in Arizona.
She is now collecting ghost stories that happen in public places throughout the state. Her next book ?Arizona?s Haunted History,? is expected to take about a year to complete.
Pascoe visited Flagstaff, Williams and Jerome last week, and has already heard interesting stories.
One that stuck out involved an empty building in Jerome that supposedly was once a bordello. The owners left one day to have dinner, locked up the place, and returned hours later to find all the lights on.
When they drove up, the lights turned off, but the interesting thing is, the building has no electricity.
Pascoe?s husband said although nothing ghostly has ever happened to him, he thinks the stories are entertaining.
?I like the history, and the ghosts are kind of interesting,? said Josh Pascoe, a human resources director for Honeywell.
?People are fascinated by ghost stories,? he said.
Arizona ghosts
Share your story: If you have a real ghost story set in a public place in Arizona, e-mail Jill Pascoe at jpascoe@irongatepress.com.
Publications: For information on her work, visit
www.irongatepress.com.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index. ... =STY-77855
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