By Kara Reedy—
When people think of American legends, most don’t think about Ohio and all of its spooky tales. In celebration of the season of Halloween, James A. Willis, who prefers to be referred to as “Weird Willis,” came to the Middletown campus recently to discuss some of the more mysterious stories of our region of Ohio. Mr. Willis is an acclaimed author with several books to his credit, the most recent being the highlight of his presentation: Southern Ohio Legends & Lore. Willis exposed his audience to several tales from the region. Some of the stories were familiar, but many were entirely unknown to his audience. It was an extraordinarily chilling night with a mixture of ghost stories, UFO sightings, and monster encounters. Willis went into detail about not only the events but also his process of discovering them.
“Weird Willis,” much like his nickname suggests, is interested in exploring the strange and unknown. Time outside of writing often included ghost and monster hunting for Mr. Willis, and both of these hobbies made an appearance during his presentation. Where others might run with fear of the unknown, Willis chooses to run towards that bump in the night. Even though Weird Willis believes in supernatural concepts, he still prides himself on discovering if what he captures is genuinely paranormal. This skeptical take on his adventures is a breath of fresh air in a dramatic field where many other ghost hunters shriek and point at the smallest of events, claiming them to be influenced or caused by a ghost or some other spiritual entity.
Willis’s interest in the strange and spooky stems from a childhood fascination with legends. He was born near the infamous town of Sleepy Hollow, otherwise known as Mount Pleasant, New York. The little village has become widely recognized in America due to the popularity of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. During a field trip to the town, Mr. Willis was made aware of the truth of the tale. In true Irving fashion, the legend was entirely fictional, with the use of a real town and the names of real people meant to inspire intrigue in his readers. After this discovery, Willis decided to make it his life’s mission to find a true legend. He attempted to find a few “true legends” here in Ohio, and it looks like he might’ve found some after all.
Southern Ohio Legends & Lore encompasses numerous tales of the region. Mr. Willis discussed nine of the stories he found in the South, some of which were his particular favorites. The tales are diverse, revolving around many of Willis’s interests regarding the supernatural. Willis spoke of monsters like “The Loveland Frogman” and creepy locations like the “Athens Mental Asylum.” He even talked about a few Miami University-related stories, such as the “Phantom of Oxford” and “The Oxford Rider.” The intriguing part of Willis’s discussion is that many of the tales he presented had factual aspects, such as the “Athens Mental Asylum,” which people can still visit. Stranger still is the story of the “Phantom of Oxford,” which is about a student who disappeared and is still listed as missing several decades later. The student’s name is Ronald Henry Tammen, Jr., just in case you’re curious and want to know more about his mysterious disappearance.
James A. Willis’ Contact Information and Personal Websites
Email – jim@strangeandspookyworld.com
Blog – https://strangeandspookyworld.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/jamesawillis
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/strangeandspookyworld/