Ghosts, page 1
A Note from Mary Pope Osborne About the
When I write Magic Tree House® adventures, I love including facts about the times and places Jack and Annie visit. But when readers finish these adventures, I want them to learn even more. So that’s why my husband, Will, and my sister, Natalie Pope Boyce, and I write a series of nonfiction books that are companions to the fiction titles in the Magic Tree House® series. We call these books Fact Trackers because we love to track the facts! Whether we’re researching dinosaurs, pyramids, Pilgrims, sea monsters, or cobras, we’re always amazed at how wondrous and surprising the real world is. We want you to experience the same wonder we do—so get out your pencils and notebooks and hit the trail with us. You can be a Magic Tree House® Fact Tracker, too!
Here’s what kids, parents, and teachers have to say about the Magic Tree House® Fact Trackers:
“They are so good. I can’t wait for the next one. All I can say for now is prepare to be amazed!” —Alexander N.
“I have read every Magic Tree House book there is. The [Fact Trackers] are a thrilling way to get more information about the special events in the story.” —John R.
“These are fascinating nonfiction books that enhance the magical time-traveling adventures of Jack and Annie. I love these books, especially American Revolution. I was learning so much, and I didn’t even know it!” —Tori Beth S.
“[They] are an excellent ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at what the [Magic Tree House fiction] has started in your imagination! You can’t buy one without the other; they are such a complement to one another.” —Erika N., mom
“Magic Tree House [Fact Trackers] took my children on a journey from Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, to so many significant historical events! The detailed manuals are a remarkable addition to the classic fiction Magic Tree House books we adore!” —Jenny S., mom
“[They] are very useful tools in my classroom, as they allow for students to be part of the planning process. Together, we find facts in the [Fact Trackers] to extend the learning introduced in the fictional companions. Researching and planning classroom activities, such as our class Olympics based on facts found in Ancient Greece and the Olympics, help create a genuine love for learning!” —Paula H., teacher
Text copyright © 2009 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Sal Murdocca
Cover photograph copyright © FLI/age fotostock
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published by Random House Children’s Books, New York, in 2009.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. Magic Tree House is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.
The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker series was formerly known as the Magic Tree House Research Guide series.
Visit us on the Web!
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randomhouse.com/kids
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at randomhouse.com/teachers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Ghosts : a nonfiction companion to a good night for ghosts / by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce ; illustrated by Sal Murdocca.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house fact tracker)
“A Stepping Stone book.”
Includes index.
“A nonfiction companion to Magic Tree House #42: A Good Night for Ghosts.”
eISBN: 978-0-307-97550-8
1. Ghosts—Juvenile literature. I. Boyce, Natalie Pope. II. Murdocca, Sal, ill. III. Title.
BF1461.O87 2011 133.1—dc22 2011006314
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1
To Cyndi Pratt and Sheila Del Soldato with love
Historical Consultant:
DAVID DELGADO SHORTER, Associate Professor of World Arts and Cultures, UCLA
Education Consultant:
HEIDI JOHNSON, Earth Science and Paleontology, Lowell Junior High School, Bisbee, Arizona
As always, very special thanks to the excellent folks at Random House: Gloria Cheng, Liam Hart, Mallory Loehr, Lisa Findlay, and especially to our wonderful editor, Diane Landolf.
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
1. Ghosts
2. America’s Most Haunted
3. Haunted Washington, D.C.
4. Spooky Great Britain
5. What Are Ghosts All About?
Doing More Research
Index
About the Author
It was a hot summer night near Wilming-ton, North Carolina, many years ago. Two girls were hiding in the bushes by the railroad tracks at the old Maco train station.
Almost everyone in North Carolina knew about the Maco Light. Stories about it began in the mid-1800s when a terrible accident took the life of a railroad conductor on the Maco train tracks. The man’s name was Joe Baldwin. Part of his job was to walk the tracks at night with a lantern to make sure the train had stopped at the right place. Joe’s head was cut off in the accident. Some said he was gripping the lantern in his hand when he died.
After Joe’s death, people started to say they sometimes saw a ghostly light floating above the tracks. As the light moved forward, it seemed to sway back and forth. It was as if there were someone with a lantern looking for something. People believed that it was Joe Baldwin searching for his missing head.
When the girls heard this story, they wanted to see the Maco Light for themselves. Time passed slowly as they waited. The night was dark and still. Swarms of mosquitoes buzzed around their heads. They were almost ready to give up when suddenly they saw a dim light coming down the tracks toward them. It swung from side to side and got brighter as it drew closer. The girls leapt up in horror and ran for their lives! Years later, the tracks were torn up. No one has seen the Maco Light since.
Now the girls are grown women. Neither of them believes in ghosts. But after all these years, they still cannot explain what they saw. They say it was such a strange sight that it still sends chills down their backs. They have told the story of their encounter with the Maco Light many times.
Ghost Stories
Ghost stories have been around for thousands of years. Before books, television, and computers, nights could seem long. To entertain themselves, people sat around the fire and told stories. Scary stories were just part of the fun.
Today we can still read ghost stories written by the ancient Greeks and Romans thousands of years ago. They believed that ghosts were spirits of people who had not had a proper burial after they had died. There is one famous Greek ghost story about dead warriors who still haunt a battlefield thousands of years after the battle.
The Greeks defeated the powerful Persian army at the Battle of Marathon. They lost fewer than 200 men; the Persians lost more than 6,000.
Another story is from the Roman writer Pliny the Younger, who lived about two thousand years ago. Pliny’s tale sounds a lot like ghost stories today. It’s about a strange house haunted at night by the sound of rattling chains and the ghost of an old man. The ghost cannot rest until it is given a proper burial.
Like the Greeks and Romans, the Japanese and Chinese have a history of ghost stories going back thousands of years. Today children in Japan listen to the same stories their grandparents did about ghosts called yurei (yoo-ray).
Many yurei are young women who have long black hair and look pale and ghostly. They appear dressed in white and rarely speak.
The ghosts don’t have feet or legs and appear to float rather than walk. Their hands hang limply at their sides. At times wisps of bright red and green fire hover near them.
Just about every country has its own favorite ghost stories. If you travel to Mexico, you might hear tales of La Llorona, the famous crying ghost. She is supposed to wander the countryside dressed in white, weeping for her drowned children.
Llorona means “weeping woman” in Spanish.
In Africa and in many other parts of the world, children often hear stories about friendly ghosts who are the spirits of their ancestors.
What Exactly Are Ghosts?
Many people who believe in ghosts think they are the spirits of those who have died but who are not ready to leave this world for the next. Ghosts often appear at night. Sometimes they drift in clouds of cold white mist, like the yurei. And like the yurei, their faces are pale and they almost never speak. If they are not seen, they make their presence known by moving things about, making noises, and opening and closing doors.
Ghosts even walk through walls.
The place where a ghost appears is said to be haunted. In most stories, the spirits of the dead haunt areas where they have lived or died.
In many tales, ghosts are kind and helpful. Sometimes the ghosts need help before they can rest in peace. But other ghosts are just plain scary and seem to stick around for the fun of it.
One family in Charleston, South Carolina, claims that a woman’s ghost has haunted their house for over a hundred years. They all report a trail of icy air as the gentle spirit glides from room to room.
Belief in Ghosts
In some cultures, ghosts play active roles in everyday life. Each year, the village of Malajpur in India holds a famous ghost busters’ fair. Many travel to the fair because the
The fair lasts a month. Over ten thousand people visit every year.
A few years ago, some schools in India closed for a while. The children claimed there were too many ghosts in their classrooms! They needed a vacation from them.
For hundreds of years, the Japanese and the Chinese have held ghost festivals. The festivals celebrate the spirits of their dead relatives. Families gather to tidy up their graves and then honor their loved ones with feasts. In some homes, places are set at the table for the dead and candles burn on family altars honoring the spirits of their loved ones.
Spain, Brazil, and other countries also celebrate the dead with festivals.
In Mexico, there is a special day called “the Day of the Dead.” Mexicans visit their relatives’ graves and have feasts in their honor. They feel that the spirits of the dead are with them on this day. This custom goes back thousands of years.
Our Halloween is similar. Every Octo-ber 31, children dress up like ghosts and scary creatures. This comes from an old custom in Ireland, where people thought spirits roamed the countryside that night.
We may not all agree on ghosts, but one thing is sure: ghosts are a mystery. Stories about them can be exciting, inspiring, and chilling. And who knows? Maybe your town or city has its own favorite ghost stories. In fact, there might be a haunted house right down the street!
For hundreds of years, people have seen ghostly lights around swamps during the night. The lights seem to hover over the ground and drift from place to place. Years ago, people thought the lights were ghosts.
In ghost stories the lights were called will-o’-the-wisps. This strange name came about because people used bundles of straw called wisps to start their fires. The swamp lights looked like burning wisps of straw. People began to tell tales about a forest spirit named Will. They said that Will used magic lights to trick travelers into going in the wrong direction. He became known as Will of the wisp.
Today scientists know that when gas from rotting plants in a swamp mixes with certain gases in the air, they burn and create a ghostly glow. The scientists believe that this explains will-o’-the-wisps.
Could there have been a swamp near the Maco train station? That would explain a lot!
There has never been another city quite like New Orleans. Parts of the city have buildings that look like those in France and Spain. That’s because before New Orleans became part of the United States in 1812, it was first owned by France and later by Spain. Over the years, people from Haiti (HAY-tee) and Africa also settled in the city. They brought a rich treasure of African folklore with them. Another gift they gave New Orleans was a type of music called jazz, which has its roots in African music.
Folklore is the stories and customs people pass down through the years by word of mouth.
The air in New Orleans is hot and damp. The city sits between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchar-train. Because of this, there is a huge danger of floods. Houses are sometimes built high off the ground for protection. Earthen banks called levees act as walls to keep the city from flooding.
All over New Orleans, creepy-looking hanging moss droops from the trees. Crumbling old mansions line many of the streets. New Orleans is the perfect setting for some great ghost stories. In fact, some people call it the most haunted city in America.
Cities of the Dead
Folks in New Orleans call their graveyards “cities of the dead.” That’s because they have to bury the dead aboveground. The earth is so soggy that in rainy weather, coffins buried underground used to float to the surface. To solve this problem, many people are buried in tombs or in structures called vaults.
Visitors walk down winding paths overgrown with moss and weeds. Silent tombs sit on either side of the walkways. During the holidays, candles cast ghostly shadows on the graves.
New Orleans has over forty-two cemeteries, but St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is one of the most famous. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of an African American woman named Marie Laveau. When Marie died in the 1800s, many believed she had magical powers. People said she could summon up spirits and even make magic potions.
The type of magic Marie practiced is called voodoo. It comes from Haiti and Africa.
Legend has it that Marie’s ghost appears as either a crow or a big black dog that runs through the cemetery. Sometimes visitors mark the tomb where Marie is supposed to be buried with three large X’s in hopes of having good luck. And for extra good luck, they turn around three times as well. (Just remember: it’s against the law to mark up the tombs.)
In some folk-lore, crows and black dogs are signs of death.
Ghosts of the French Quarter
The oldest and most famous part of New Orleans is called the French Quarter. The French built many buildings there before Louisiana became part of the United States. New Orleans has a law that no one can tear down any of these wonderful, but sometimes spooky, old buildings. When you wander through the French Quarter, it’s not hard to see why many famous ghost stories take place there.
Marie Laveau lived in the French Quarter. People say that her ghost drifts down St. Ann Street dressed in a white gown with a handkerchief tied in seven knots around her neck. A man once claimed Marie’s ghost hit him in the nose when he was in a drugstore. The victim said that her ghost asked him who she was. When he said he did not know, she gave him a good, hard punch!
There are other ghostly sightings in the French Quarter as well. People claim that the ghost of a woman sometimes sits on the roof of a house on Royal Street. They’ve named her “Julie, the Creole lady.” The story goes that Julie died from grief because a young Frenchman would not marry her. Julie climbed up to the roof of her house and died overnight from the cold.
The Death Tree
Other famous French Quarter ghosts include those of a Turkish sultan and his family. In the 1800s, the sultan rented a huge house called the Gardette-LaPretre House for his big family and their servants. One dark and stormy night, intruders slipped in and murdered everyone.
The murderers buried the sultan in a shallow grave underneath a tree in the courtyard. They were never caught, and no one ever knew why they murdered the family.
The sultan’s tree is called the “Death Tree.”
For years, people reported hearing Turkish music coming from the house. They also reported screams and ghostly figures around the tree.
Ghosts of the Civil War
Another haunted house in the French Quarter belonged to General Beauregard (BO-ruh-gard), who fought in the Civil War in the mid-1800s. Folks say that around two o’clock in the morning, the ghosts of the general and his soldiers haunt the ballroom.
At first, the men appear in fine uniforms. Then suddenly their clothes turn into bloody rags. Terrible wounds cover their bodies, and the sounds of battle begin to rumble through the house. Today General Beauregard’s house is a museum that is not open at night!
There are supposed to be ghost dogs and ghost cats haunting the house as well.
Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop
Jean Lafitte, a pirate, really looked the part. He was tall, dark, and handsome and was popular with the ladies. But most of all, Jean was daring. In the early 1800s, he and his band of pirates attacked and robbed ships up and down the coast from Texas to Louisiana. Yet Jean had a good side, too. He and his brother helped the United States in naval battles against the British in the War of 1812 and in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.
