Several months ago Pamela K. Kinney made it possible for her publisher to send me a complimentary copy of her book, Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, & Other Haunted Locations. After months of start and stop reading (due to time, not the quality of the book’s content), I finally finished it and can post a review.
I’ve broken my thoughts on the book into two section: Praise and Criticism. As the titles of each section suggest, I’ll be saying what I both liked and found not to my liking.
PRAISE
I was most intrigued by Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle‘s subject matter. Williamsburg and Jamestown are both high on my list of places I want to see. I was curious to learn about the haunts Pamela shared.
Before I get to the content, I’d like to remark that the physicality of the book is quite nice. It’s a comfortable size, both content-length as well as the actual dimensions.
The design of book is also pretty groovy. The pages have personality and atmosphere. They’re sort of antiqued-looking, meaning they’re not your typical whitish-gray book page color. It’s more beige with nice fonts and neat graphics throughout. Pamela also included a ton of photos to illustrate the places she was talking about.
Some of my favorites tales were:
- Creepy Crawford Road
- Cornwallis’s Cave
- Neither Tree Nor Family Can Separate True Love (I really liked the love story involving James and Sarah Blair’s graves in this one)
- The Author’s Experiences shared in the section on the Berkeley Plantation
- The pet cemetery mentioned in the section on the Shirley Plantation
- The story of the sea creature in the moat that surrounds Fort Monroe
- The author’s description of her informal ghost hunt in the second floor bathroom of what had once been the Champlain Hotel
Speaking of that sea monster in the moat mentioned above, I also liked that in the Third Section of the book, Pamela included a little bit about other phenomena in Virginia’s Historic Triangle, like the Cohoke Light, Bigfoot encounters, and UFO sightings.
CRITICISM
Everyone’s a critic right? I’m no exception. Here’s what I didn’t like about the book:
- All the pictures pointing out the “orbs” in them. Now, I’ll admit I am prejudice against orbs. I’m more inclined to believe what’s been caught is dust or bugs, especially when your outside and there’s an abundance of them, as was the case with a photo of the Peyton Randolph House. And the “orb” in the attic of the Boxwood Inn, while nice and big and bright, was also more than likely dust.
- I was disappointed specific haunted hotels were not mentioned on page 12. All that was said was “Those staying in hotels on Richmond Road tell of seeing soldiers passing through their rooms.” Sort of vague. I’d rather have known which hotels, which rooms, etc.
- Speaking of vague, there were several statements made as definitive without any facts backing them. Such as in the Bigfoot section on page 182. “Virginia has the oldest records of Sasquatch sightings in the United States, with some dating back to the pre-1880s.” According to which records? Then there was this one from page 184 of the UFO section that was just plain confusing: “Though it is said since the 1940s there have been sightings, some documented, some not, there is no doubt that since man first walked the earth such objects have been in the skies.” There’s a huge gap of time between when man first walked the earth and the 1940s. How is there no doubt that “such objects have been in the skies”? I had a lot of trouble swallowing that sentence.
CONCLUSION
At the end of the day, the book was an enjoyable way to visit Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle until I’m able to get up there and experience it for myself. I’m grateful for the complimentary copy that lets me do so any time I want now. Thank you Pamela and Schiffer.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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