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Where humanity leaves its footprints, paranormal activity will follow.
Are you ready to experience Fort Snelling’s resident spirits, Wabasha Street Caves’ ghostly gangsters, Native American warriors, and the restless souls of criminals and murder victims? Join ghost hunter and historian Adrian Lee, along with his elite team of paranormal investigators, on a compelling tour of Minnesota’s most haunted historic places. His chilling firsthand investigations of thirteen famous locations—accompanied by rich historical details—will send shivers down your spine.
Explore clashes between Native Americans and the early settlers, lavish parties during the Roaring Twenties, botched public executions at Minneapolis City Hall, and the legend of John Dillinger. Learn about specialized ghost-hunting equipment, including electromagnetic field meters, the ghost box, and the Ovilus, as you read this one-of-a-kind haunted landmark guide. With such storytelling enthusiasm, you’ll feel like a member of the team.
Welcome to Mysterious Minnesota!
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Minneapolis City Hall: Minneapolis 11
Chapter 2 The Palmer House Hotel: Sauk Centre 37
Chapter 3 The Mounds Theatre: St. paul 63
Chapter 4 Fort Snelling: St. Paul 85
Chapter 5 The Soap Factory Building: Minneapolis 103
Chapter 6 The Chase Resort: Walker 127
Chapter 7 S.S. William A. Irvin: Duluth 147
Chapter 8 The Opera House: Mantorville 163
Chapter 9 LeDuc Historic Estate: Hastings 185
Chapter 10 The Wabasha Street Caves: St. Paul 201
Chapter 11 The Old Jail and Saloon: Taylors Falls 227
Chapter 12 The St. James Hotel: Red Wing 245
Chapter 13 Schmidt Brewery: St. Paul 269
Epilogue 291
Acknowledgments 297
Endnotes 299
eternalised
Posted August 30, 2012
Mysterious Minnesota details a number of paranormal investigations in Minnesota, ranging from old hotels to caves to abandoned factories. What I enjoyed most about this book is that, as opposed to jumping from place to place rapidly, it focused on thirteen sites in particular and investigated them in great detail, talking about their history and the paranormal investigation by a large team.
The writing style of this book was very fluent. It was also very detailed, and vividly described. In some scenes, I actually could imagine myself standing there, in that old hotel room, or that creepy-looking factory, and feel shivers run down my spine. I also like how the author seems to take a step back and tell the readers about the hauntings almost matter-of-factly. There are obvious emotions in the accounts, but they never take over, and as a reader I had plenty of space to make up for myself what I chose to believe and what I didn’t. For me, this was one of the main reasons why I enjoyed the book. Detailed, with real, historical research at the base of most hauntings, and with scientific equipment such as a ‘ghost box’ (although I’m not sure how scientific that really is) to help the investigators communicate with spirits from the beyond.
I also liked how the book never goes over the top. It talks about paranormal phenomena, sometimes even communcating with spirits, but there’s nothing outrageous, such as ghosts trying to kill someone, a myriad of full-body apparitions or entire hordes of ghosts. For some reason, I found this book a lot more believable than some of the true haunting books I previously read, although I can’t exactly pinpoint why. Maybe it’s the historical research, or how the author doesn’t try to convince me. He doesn’t scream: look, this happened, now believe me! Instead, he calmly recites what happens, drawing me in more and more every page.
I was a bit sad the book was over. I wouldn’t have minded if it were longer (and it’s already quite long, over 300 pages) because I was seriously engrossed in the witness accounts and paranormal investigations detailed in this book. I definitely wouldn’t mind reading more true haunting books by this author. He has a keen eye for research and doesn’t go into “preaching” mode, enforcing his beliefs on the reader. Instead, he remains surprisingly neutral, but his writing style is intriguing and enjoyable.
If you like true haunting books, you don’t want to miss out on Mysterious Minnesota. If you’re one of the lucky people living in or near Minnesota, you definitely want to read this one, and then go visit the places mentioned and maybe meet up with some century-old ghosts. Recommended to all fans of true hauntings.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 12, 2012
Hello,
First of all let's preface this with if my sister knew I was writing this email she would be completely livid with me. She asked me not ever say anything to anyone about Adrian or his book of lies. The only reason I know about this is because of a weak moment she had back when he was still stranded in England in 2010 and she spilled her guts to me.
She told me she has been keeping all these lies for him and she was really struggling with it (not that she was going to tell anyone, but just the fact that he has asked her to lie about so many topics for him, she was struggling with her own integrity because of having to continually lie about him to friends, family and colleagues within the ghost hunting community (I don't even know if that is the right term).
My sister has finally left him after finding about his many affairs. So not only did she have to go through feeling like a terrible person for keeping and telling his lies but now the humiliation of finding out after she took him back after the first affair, he continued having multiple affairs after that. So despite my promise to keep HER secret about his lies, I am going to do something I never thought I would do. I am going to break her promise and tell you everything as his publisher that you should know. The truth once and for all.
Most of his back ground that he is portraying himself as are lies. He was fired from darkness radio over 2 years ago, he was also fired from the sauk herald. the magazine he claims he is head writer for was over 2 years ago and they only put out 4 issues. She said she think it didn't even sell 20 issues combined. He is not a DR, doesn't have his PhD or master's degree. He didn't even know anything about ghost hunting until he met my sister 5 years ago. He even made a video when he was still in England before they met in person for her trying to say some of the words and was bungling them up. My sister still has the video. (they used to make each other funny videos and upload them to youtube). Even many of the board of the historical society are trying to get him off the board and get him fired now because of his lies and disgusting behavior.
The reason my sister called me that night was because she was so upset. She was on her way to an investigation (not sure where) but it was a blizzard out and she almost got into an accident. He had called her from England upset because she hadn't contacted him about the investigation all while she was close to getting into an accident driving in the dark in the middle of a snow storm to go do an investigation for his book. She (and her team) spent several months driving around Minnesota in treacherous weather doing these ghost hunts for him and writing very detailed notes and videos so he could pretend he was there at them. She and the team were sworn to silence that he was not there. They were to be his eyes and ears all for his book.
In the end, Adrian is a sociopath and pathological (but very gifted in his lying abilities). Word is spreading fast on the streets because the truth is coming out about him. Not only my sister, but most of the team have 100% proof of his lies about not only his back ground but how he earnestly was being deceitful via, emails, posts on private forums from him to her team, video and first hand accounts.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 2, 2013
Did not impress me very much. More of a history book than a paranormal book. I was expecting more paranormal information.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 30, 2013
Please be aware that ALL of the reviews that are negative regarding this book are from a bitter ex-wife and a handful of her friends/ family members. He filed for divorce and she didn't bother to show up. These people that have all given reviews on the same day were inspired by Adrian's ex-wife's Amateur wiccan Podcast "Sit A Spell" producer - Josh Hadley. Look him up on facebook if you can stomach his tolerance and promotion of porn, violence and gore.... Real class act.
You can research the Divorce online yourself. MN offers court records online....
Overview
Where humanity leaves its footprints, paranormal activity will follow.
Are you ready to experience Fort Snelling’s resident spirits, Wabasha Street Caves’ ghostly gangsters, Native American warriors, and the restless souls of criminals and murder victims? Join ghost hunter and historian Adrian Lee, along with his elite team of paranormal investigators, on a compelling tour of Minnesota’s most haunted historic places. His chilling firsthand investigations of thirteen famous ...