As I’ve mentioned elsewhere on this blog, I have insomnia, and that means I sometimes have to come up with pretty creative ways to keep myself entertained in the wee hours when sleep is not in the offing. I love researching newspaper archives for my writing. Usually, I’m looking for articles about a specific moment in history, but when I can’t sleep I’ll sometimes just plug in interesting keywords and arbitrary date ranges and see what I find.
So on this page I’ll be sharing a little bit of everything — ghosts, UFOs, monarchs switched at birth — whatever I find that seems like it would be fun to share.
Enjoy!
Buzzkill at a Ghost Hunt
An Inopportune Haunting
An Iffy Treasure Map
Well Mannered Flapper Ghost
Charm Against Hostile Mesmerists
Ghost or Hibernating Burglar?
New Jersey Banshee
Crime Ring Run By Witch Doctors
A Most Unusual Last Will and Testament
A Plea for Poltergeists
Child Poltergeist Medium
Beauty Queen with a Spider Bite
A La Carte Exorcisms
Death By Glacier
An Article That Is Not Really About Banshees
Terrifying New York Thruway
Ghosts in the Laboratory
St. Pierre — A Lazy Bootlegger’s Paradise
Romanian Pickpocket Poltergeist
Yonkers Exorcism Cult
Strange, Sad Tale of Victor Hugo’s Daughter
A Sort-Of Exorcism
Nepalese Yeti Permit
Rip Van Winkle Tourism
Mutant Frogs Liberated From Government Lab
1960s Garage Door Ghost
Static Electricity Boy
French Sorceress Arrested
Retired Boxer’s Weird New Career
Vampire 101
10 Ships Vanish in 18 Months
UFOs Spotted on the East Coast
West Point Ghosts
Famous People and Their Wills
Ghost Census
This Computer Thing Will Never Last
Matchmaking by Ghost Fire
Catholic Ghost Goes to Church
Spirit Rapping in 1858
Canadian Ghost Hysteria
Servant Signs Last Will and Testament
No Gallery Showing for this Ghost
A Husband’s Last Wish
Even Ghosts Get Hungry
Vampire Personal Ads
Phantom White Dog Guards Oil Well
Curse of the Stolen Bible
Scared to Death by a Tweet
Getting the Ocean Drunk
The Ghost at the Card Table
Vampire Sentenced to Life in Prison
If Harry Potter Played Golf
Ghost Gets 40 Lashes
Christmas Ornaments or Witch Balls
Death of a Witch
A Colicky Ghost
Vampire Hunting in Winter
An Expensive Ghost
A Piano-Playing Ghost
Arthur Conan Doyle and the Ghost of the Murdered Groom
The Sheridan Family Curse
Tales of Scottish Fairies
The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds
Ghost Busting in the Early 20th Century
Prankster Bride Lingers in Lovel Castle
Ghost or Bad Whiskey?
Bearded Lady Sells Curse Remover
Bram Stoker thought Queen Elizabeth was a man. Really.
Vampire Job Application
Lord Byron and the Curse of Newstead Abbey
Faking a Haunting for Fun and Profit