CINCINNATI — It's officially spooky season, which means we can totally nerd out about the occult and it's not too weird.
And if uncovering creepy, dark history is your thing, you might want to check out this new book: "Ghost Stories & Graveyard Tales: Cincinnati"
"Cincinnati has so much crazy stuff," Author Allen Sircy said.
Sircy, a self-described "Hauntstorian," isn't a Tri-State native but he's spent a lot of time in The Queen City over the past two years doing research for the book.
"This spine-chilling book delves deep into the city's macabre past, unearthing forgotten tales of the supernatural that have plagued the Queen City for generations," Sircy said in a press release.
Sircy said he's written about a dozen books that focus on dark history in cities including St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago and New Orleans. He said Cincinnati has one of the darkest pasts of any city in America.
"From opportunistic grave robbers that stole the remains of a United States president's son to a heartbroken father who burned his daughter's lover alive, ghastly tales of the macabre abound in The Queen City," reads the back cover of the book.
While touching on the more well-known historical sites like Cincinnati Music Hall, Sircy also focuses on lesser-known stories of phantoms that have been "lurking about for centuries" along with some unimaginable crimes including those of a Cincinnati serial killer known as "Arsenic Anna" (Anna Hahn).
Sircy said she was the first woman to be executed in Ohio in the late 1930s. The German immigrant is accused of befriending elderly men and killing them after they loaned her money.
Sircy also writes about a tale he calls "The Tanyard Horror." It's a tragic story from the 1870s involving the murder of a West End man named Herman Shilling. Sircy said Shilling's ghost is rumored to have driven the wife of his accused killer mad.
Sircy said his new book is perfect for those with an "appetite for history to unearth the hidden horrors that lie beneath Cincinnati's picturesque facade."
The book came out around the same time major stores had their Halloween decorations out — mid August. It's available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.
Click here to learn more about his latest work.
