Haunted Gary (Haunted America Book 16)

As a life-long Chicagoan and longtime fan of Ursula Bielski's "Chicago Haunts" book series, I was more than excited when I read that she had written a book about haunts in nearby Gary, Indiana! Bielski's brilliant command of historiography lends beautifully to her reporting Gary's rich collection of ghostlore and paranormal recitals. I am always amazed and intrigued by her fine descriptions of the settings' historic origins and the citizenry's triumphs and tragedies, details which always add to the horror, mystery, and poignancy of the tales. I foolishly read most of the book at night, just before bedtime. After certain stories (and the book, though small, has a good number of them), I was hesitant to turn off the lights and unable to fall asleep quickly. For a horror trooper like me, those were a signs that Bielski had succeeded in giving us another great book of frightening urban folklore. It's perfect reading for the Halloween season!

In the past decade, Ursula Bielski has cemented her reputation as Chicagoland's reigning paranormal expert. In "Haunted Gary", she concentrates on an area many Chicagoans know little about-- Gary and Northwest Indiana. Frankly, her chapter on the city's notorious "demon house" (using interviews with the Roman Catholic priest who conducted three exorcisms on the woman involved) would be worth buying the book for all by itself. But she adds the facts surrounding Reeder Road, "Diana of the Dunes" and the city's most popular ex-citizen-- Michael Jackson. The book is entertaining (as all of Ursula's books are) and you don't necessarily have to believe in the supernatural to appreciate the tales. In fact, it makes for perfect reading around a campfire on the dunes as night approaches.

Ursula Bielski has produced ghost books that are well researched and written. This not one of them.The stories themselves belong to those experiencing them, and I do not criticize them. However, it is important for a ghost book to have the history right, the locations right, and how about the spelling right.The city of Merrillville has two rs, not one. There are many spelling errors throughout the book.She used the term "nineteenth century" a few times when she clearly meant the twentieth, and "area code" for a telephone number when she meant the telephone exchange.There are location errors including:Reeder Road is miles away from the Calumet River.There is no Sheffield Avenue in Munster, the long-gone Nike base was on Calumet Avenue.Cline Avenue has been a heavily traveled modern road since the early 1960's, not after the 1980's as suggested.The Halls of Justice are in the Criminal Courts Building and not in the old jail and the John Dillinger Museum isn't in the old jail either, it's in the old Lake County Courthouse. All in Crown Point, Indiana.History errors include:That there were no Native villages in the area. Indian Town, McGwinn's Village, and Chiqua's Town are but three.The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train wreck was on the Michigan Central Railroad not the South Shore. The accident did not happen because the troop train ran up the back of the circus train as she says. According to the newspaper accounts and two books written about the event the circus train had pulled off a siding for the night. However, the last cars of the train were still on the main track. It was those cars that the troop train hit.This book is riddled with easily avoidable errors.Ursula Bielski is considered to be a "ghostlore" expert in the Chicago area. She has appeared on television, radio, and has other books to her name. She should be held to a higher level where this sloppiness is unacceptable. The books feels as though it was hastily written. It is also permeated by the superior attitude often found when a Chicagoan writes a book about the Calumet Region.

As a lifelong resident (37yr old) of “The Region” I had heard a few of these stories but not many others included in this book. It was a great read with many interesting points. 10/10 would recommend.

Haunted Gary was very well written and gives so much depth of information into the history of Gary, IN, and why this city may have some very haunted locations. I am glad I was a part of this book and was able to help Ursula Bielski with the research.

I'm into hauntings and the paranormal. This is a GREAT addison to my collection of ghost books! There's even a chapter devoted to Michael Jackson!

Very good read! I grew up in Chicago and have traveled through the Gary area many times! I had not known all the history of that city or the dunes! A bit of interesting history!

I bought this book and was not impressed. All the haunted spots in the book have all been mentioned in many many haunted books before this ursula bielski, the self proclaimed queen Chicago paranormal put these same spots in hers. Wanna be a paranormal celebrity and author? Buy a book from original authors like mark merrimen, Dale Kascmarek, or Richard Crowe, copy their hard researched spots, and put them in your own book then presto, you are now Ursula Bielski. Richard Crowe was the original Chicago ghost tour operator she got majority of her tour stops in Chicago from. She lied in her bio here too. Ursula bielski is absolutely not nowhere near the oldest ghost tour in Chicago. Since the original Richard Crowe passed, Dale Kascmarek is now the oldest tour operator starting in 1982 some 20 years before the self proclaimed queen ursula started her copycat tours in a school bus,not luxury coach but her own short school bus. Yep, no thanks for me.