Description
Book SynopsisUncover thrilling paranormal tales of Gold Rush ghosts, haunted hotels, shipwrecks, giant squid attacks, disappeared Russian explorers, a vanished bear hunter, Sasquatch, Kushtaka, and so much more.
A collection of twenty stories showcasing the supernatural legends and unsolved mysteries of Southeast Alaska, with a focus on the region between Yakutat and Petersburg, where the author has lived his entire life, writing, teaching, guiding, commercial fishing, and investigating ghost stories.
Each chapter is rooted in Bjorn’s own adventures and will intertwine fascinating history, interviews, and his reflections. Bjorn’s writing, sometimes poignant and often wickedly funny, brings to mind Hunter S. Thompson and Patrick McManus.
Chapters touch on legends such as Alexander Baranov, Soapy Smith, James Wickersham, and the Kóoshdaa Káa (Kushtaka) to lesser known but fascinating characters like “Naked” Joe Knowles and purported serial killer Ed Krause.
From duplicitous if not downright diabolical humans to demons of the fjords and deep seas and cryptids of the forest, Bjorn Dihle presents a lively cross-section of the haunter and the haunted found in Alaska’s Inside Passage.
Trade Review"With glaciers tucked in-between mountains, dark waters cloaking an abundance of marine life, and wild animals lurking just out of sight in copses of hemlock and spruce, many have viewed Southeast Alaska as a mysterious place. Outdoors and humor writer Bjorn Dihle taps into that sense of the Panhandle with his debut book In this unique work, Dihle unites one part nature writing, one part memoir, and one part historical work under the thematic subject of supernatural stories in Southeast. Throughout the book, Dihle’s strong voice for nature writing is clear, as well as a healthy dose of levity from his own life to lighten the often somber stories. Each story is not simply anecdotal asides from interviewees, but is set into its historical context, with many interesting facts to learn." --Juneau Empire
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Map 1. The Mysteries of Yakobi Island 2. The Ghost of Castle Hill 3. A Testament to Ice 4. The Ghosts of Juneau's Past 5. The Terrible Fate of the Clara Nevada 6. The King Con of the Klondike 7. Ghosts of Skagway 8. The Kóoshdaa Káa Chronicles 9. The Legends of Thomas Bay 10. The Sinking of the Islander and the Legend of Its Lost Gold 11. The Ghosts of the House of Wickersham 12. The Curious Case of “the most Diabolical Murderer in Alaska's History” 13. The Tragedy of the Princess Sophia 14. Trouble with Bigfoot 15. The Witches of Southeast Alaska 16. It Came from the Depths: A Brief History of Southeast Alaska’s Sea Monsters 17. The Haunting of the Mount Edgecumbe Hospital 18. Ghosts of the Alaskan Hotel 19. Naked Joe: Alaska's Most Famous and Least Known Ghost 20. Juneau's Front Street Ghosts Bibliography
