Ghost Hunter's Guide to Portland and Oregon Coast - Paperback

by Jeff Dwyer (Author)

Ghosts and spirits abound in western Oregon. The imprints of pioneers, soldiers, prostitutes, and murder victims haunt the places they trod in life, searching for loved ones, reliving joyful times, protecting favorite haunts, and seeking revenge. This guide, history, and comprehensive how-to offers tantalizing information about the lives, deaths, and locales of the Portland area�s lingering past.

Areas include Central Portland, East Portland communities, Vancouver and North Portland, communities south of Portland, and Oregon�s coastal communities. The infamous Shanghai Tunnels have long reverberated with the screams of kidnapped victims, doomed to a brief life of forced servitude. Lone Fir Cemetery is visited to this day by the spirits of the Chinese laborers, mental asylum inmates, and Civil War veterans who rest there. Thelma Taylor can sometimes be felt in Cathedral Park, under the St. John Bridge. Historical hotels still host the spirits of guests who died, sometimes by their own hand. Opera houses and ballrooms tell a happier story: the imprints left by decades of entertainment and energy can be felt even now. These sites, and many others, are vividly described, and entries include locations and contact information.

Informative sections cover what a ghost is, how it can manifest, ideal ghost sighting conditions, and types of imprints. Techniques included are preliminary historical research, physical and mental preparation, and the two primary schools of ghost hunting: the technical and psychic methods. The technical method section covers equipment use and suggestions, and the psychic method section discusses using your intuition and sensitivity to sense phenomena. Helpful appendixes include a sighting report form; suggested readings, videos, and websites; a list of tours and events; and a collection of area museums and historical societies.

Front Jacket

This comprehensive guide to the haunts and history of Portland and the surrounding areas explores more than ninety spectral sites. From the haunted Heathman Hotel to the restless souls of the Lone Fir Cemetery, from the wailing spirits trapped in the Shanghai Tunnels to the mournful Grey Lady of the Heceta Head Lighthouse, the storied past of the Oregon Coast can still be experienced. Relive the region's days as a series of frontier towns through the Gold Rush, wars, and modern times. This companion to publicly accessible sites includes ghost-hunting instructions and tips, as well as helpful checklists for getting the most out of your next supernatural encounter. Jeff Dwyer, an expert ghost hunter, has been fascinated by local history and ghost lore since boyhood. A much-sought-after paranormal investigator, Dwyer makes appearances on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures and is a regular guest on local and national radio and television programs. He is the author of Ghost Hunter's Guide to California's Gold Rush Country, Ghost Hunter's Guide to California's Wine Country, Ghost Hunter's Guide to Los Angeles, Ghost Hunter's Guide to Monterey and California's Central Coast, Ghost Hunter's Guide to New Orleans, Ghost Hunter's Guide to Seattle and Puget Sound, and Ghost Hunter's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area: Revised Edition. He lives in Fairfield, California.

Back Jacket

This comprehensive guide to the haunts and history of Portland and the surrounding areas explores more than ninety spectral sites. From the haunted Heathman Hotel to the restless souls of the Lone Fir Cemetery, from the wailing spirits trapped in the Shanghai Tunnels to the mournful Grey Lady of the Heceta Head Lighthouse, the storied past of the Oregon Coast can still be experienced. Relive the region's days as a series of frontier towns through the Gold Rush, wars, and modern times. This companion to publicly accessible sites includes ghost-hunting instructions and tips, as well as helpful checklists for getting the most out of your next supernatural encounter.

Jeff Dwyer, an expert ghost hunter, has been fascinated by local history and ghost lore since boyhood. A much-sought-after paranormal investigator, Dwyer makes appearances on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures and is a regular guest on local and national radio and television programs. He is the author of Ghost Hunter's Guide to California's Gold Rush Country, Ghost Hunter's Guide to California's Wine Country, Ghost Hunter's Guide to Los Angeles, Ghost Hunter's Guide to Monterey and California's Central Coast, Ghost Hunter's Guide to New Orleans, Ghost Hunter's Guide to Seattle and Puget Sound, and Ghost Hunter's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area: Revised Edition. He lives in Fairfield, California.

Author Biography

"Dwyer takes his ghost hunting deadly serious." --Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat

Jeff Dwyer is a third-generation Californian, born in the heart of the Bay Area. Before pursuing medical sciences at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Southern California, he was a commercial diver and researcher of underwater performance, funded by the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit.

After earning two master of science degrees in kinesiology and physical therapy and a doctorate in exercise physiology, he taught at the University of Hawaii's medical school, Duke University School of Medicine, and the University of Southern California Wrigley Marine Science Center and medical school. He works as a clinical specialist in cardiology, conducting a cardiac rehabilitation program and supervising diagnostic laboratories focused on heart disease.

Fascinated by ghost lore since boyhood, Dwyer rekindled his interest in writing about paranormal phenomena after many years of clinical practice involving work with dying patients and their families as well as hospital staff, many of whom claimed witness to paranormal events. Numerous experiences with ghosts in hospitals, cemeteries, and historic sites around the Bay Area led to extensive research that culminated in his first book, Ghost Hunter's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area.

While working at Duke University School of Medicine and with the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit, Dwyer was able to explore every southern state. He examined antebellum mansions, battlefields, and cemeteries in addition to scuba diving on several shipwrecks. During his visits to New Orleans, he became fascinated with the city's history, culture, and people and conducted investigations of paranormal activity at several sites.

Dwyer has been a frequent in-studio, on-air guest at San Francisco Bay Area radio stations, discussing paranormal investigations. In addition to his passion for ghost sleuthing, Dwyer's hobbies include flying small aircraft, gardening, cooking, writing, and California history. He resides with his wife and three children in Fairfield, California.