This image is the cover for the book Southern Ohio Legends & Lore, American Legends

Southern Ohio Legends & Lore, American Legends

Scary, mysterious & just plain weird stories from Southern Ohio


The southern portion of the Buckeye State has long attracted its fair share of colorful characters and odd occurrences. Infamous bootlegger George Remus rose to power shortly after moving to Cincinnati. Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, was born and raised in southern Ohio. Some even say creatures not of this planet are drawn to the area, which has had numerous UFO sightings. In the same region, an unassuming university professor got away with murder, an eccentric built his version of a European castle using nearby river rocks, and a headless motorcycle ghost roams a rural roadway.


Ride along with author James A. Willis as he ventures into Southern Ohio in search of all things strange and spooky.

James A. Willis

James A. Willis has been walking on the weird side of history for nearly forty years. He's authored more than a dozen books, including Central Ohio Legends & Lore, Ohio's Historic Haunts and Weird Ohio. He is the director of the Ghosts of Ohio, a paranormal research group that he founded in 1999, and is a sought-after public speaker. He has also appeared in hundreds of media sources, including CNN, USA Today, Fox Sports and the Astonishing Legends podcast. Willis resides in Galena, Ohio, with his wife and daughter and two narcoleptic cats. He can often be found lurking around his virtual abode, strangeandspookyworld.com.

The History Press