Books, Medical Journals, Other Independent Tours
Expand & Plan Your Ghostly Adventures: Prepping for our “A Night With Ghosts tours, Self-Guided Explorations, or other small business tours. Many of these books can be found locally at Powells City of Books. Other great book stores in areas the we lead tours include: Two Rivers Bookstore, Revolution Books, Daedalus Books, Arches Bookhouse, and Third Eye Books and Gifts. Our”A Night With Ghosts Tour” offers an exciting introduction to Portland’s haunted history and these curated readings etc. are often mentioned during the tours led by Dr. March.
The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson (2013)
Larson weaves together a fascinating intersection of urban planning, public perception, media sensationalism, and social reform, all orbiting around the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Your guide ties this narrative to the preparations for the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland. The horrifying H.H. Holmes’ “Murder Castle” and the subsequent atmosphere of moral panic and reputational concern surrounding subsequent world’s fairs is sharp—especially in recognizing how this fear may have catalyzed proactive civic responses in Portland. The construction of the American Inn to be managed by J.T. McCready. And the subsequent hiring of Lula Baldwin—a known suffragist and social reformer tasked with overseeing women’s protection at the fair—do seem like deliberate counter-narratives to the dark mythology of Chicago’s Fair.
Holmes’ story has been mythologized. Much of the public’s understanding is filtered through sensational journalism (and later popular books like The Devil in the White City), which often blurred fact and fiction. Holmes was convicted of only one murder (Pitezel), despite lurid confessions and inflated body counts.
And while the macabre attracts attention, it’s often stories like those of Frederick Law Olmsted’s effort to design a magical fair in Chicago laying the pathway for his sons—John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.— their work at the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and vision for Portland’s park system, is foundational to Portland’s identity. The firm’s design ideology—centered on public health, access to nature, and civic beauty—stands in stark contrast to the dark underbelly represented by Holmes.
I ran a grammar check and AI responded: I’m hearing you right: for historians uninterested in serial killers, this book combined with your tour offers a far more hopeful and constructive lens through which to examine the evolution of American urban ideals, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Are you working on a piece about this? The comparison you’re building between the two fairs—and the moral, urban, and journalistic legacies they left—feels like it could make a killer (pun intended?) article or book chapter. (I’ll stick to leading tours.)
Ghosts of Portland, Oregon by Todd Cobb (2007)
Todd Cobb, the paranormal investigator featured in the October 2004 issue of the NW Examiner, curiously left out Joe’s Cellar in his book—the very article that introduced me to Tess. He is pictured with two orbs (anomalous spherical shapes–spirits–that appear on video and still photography). His section on Earnest “Portland by Gaslight” also reveals a lack of historical knowledge that is unlike his native city of New York, Portland was very much electrified- remember the Slabtown streetcar electrified in 1891. In the case of Earnest, by being naive he misses the point that in 1909, many city leaders and eyewitnesses attributed the phenomenon to electrification—not gas lighting.
From disembodied screams beneath the gothic arches of the St. Johns Bridge to shifting furniture and ghostly figures at The White Eagle, Portland is no stranger to hauntings. Cobb’s work is a treasure for paranormal enthusiasts, but his historical research falls short.
Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Portland and Oregon Coast by Jeff Dwyer (2015)
Take your paranormal fascination further with “Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Portland and Oregon Coast”. This comprehensive guide is the perfect companion for self-guided tours across the state, allowing you to delve deeper into the city’s chilling past at your own pace as well as day trips away from Portland.
If you are visiting Portland there are plenty of haunted hotels that I recommend for haunted lodging: Edgefield, Benson, Heathman Hotel and White Eagle. If you would prefer a good nights sleep near the tour start point. I would recommend: Inn@Northrup Station or NW International Hostel.
A Key to Your Psychic Powers and How to Develop Them by Cora Kincannon Smith (1931)
Reverend Smith spends a few scant pages covering how to develop your powers and more printers ink bragging about her correspondence with President Woodrow Wilson. Amusingly, this listing states “this scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations” is just as goofy nothing is scarce about this book the out of copyright book is printed to order. I highly recommend reading the chapter “The Haunted House in Portland. I encourage you to read existing reviews on Amazon.
Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (700 Page PDF)
March Case of Poltergeist By Dr. J. Allen Gilbert…………….. Starting on page 465
Recall that Allen Gilbert was interested in vivisecting Earnest. Dr. Gilbert was also one of the first physicians in the United States to perform a female to male trans surgery (1918).
. The March Poltergeist Case. By George A. Thacher………. Starting on page 501
Nineteenth Street Hardcover by Richard Marlitt (1978)
Wonderful images and maps of what was once Portland’s millionaires row – a community of 55 mansions. Two of the five remaining mansions are pointed out during the tour. The book is out of print.
Ghosthunting Oregon by Donna Stewart (2014)
Chapter 4 (sample below) is how I learned about the ghost of the ComedySportz. I met the author at a book signing at Barns and Nobles in Lloyd Center Mall. When this book was released I had only been leading the ghost tour for a year and I was still refining the content. Her book reminds me of books by Laura Foster like Portland Stair Walks that are out dated as places referenced close or are renames by new owners. I noticed at the Oregon Ghost Conference in Seaside, OR that many ghost authors have switched away from printing to digital books. This was one of the best books and when I travel to other cities I plan to pick-up books for the states I’m visiting from the “Haunted Road Trip” series.
Other Tour Companies:
NW Ghost Tours:
If you are interested in another guided independent history rich ghost tour in Oregon I highly recommend NW Ghost Tours. Rocky Smith started researching the paranormal activity in Oregon City in 1995 and has documented close to 100 haunted places within the city. In 2006, he combined his love for history and knowledge of the paranormal, founded Northwest Ghost Tours and now leads the Haunted Oregon City Tours.
Rocky Smith is featured in two books:
Seekers Of The Paranormal: Ghost Hunters, Ufologists, and Mediums by Loren W. Christensen (2019)
Ghost Stories of Oregon by Susan Smitten and Chris Wangler (2002)
The Hawthorne Ghost Tour
The owner of this tour and I make an effort to meet every year and share tips on how to grow our businesses. Marina Martinez-Bateman (They/Them) since November 2014 when they bartered the previous owners for it. We took over our tour companies at the same time, her tour’s prior owners were a disjointed out of state operator and my business partner died in January 2015.
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Engage Corvallis
Walking Tours in Corvallis, Oregon. EngageCorvallis.com – Owner Jema Patterson. I have yet to try them but I’d love to check out a one of there Full Moon, Ghosts & True Crime Tours. This company is one of 163 small vetted companies that are under North American Professional Ghost Tour Guides banner.
Deadly Night Shade Ghost Tours
Owner Chenin West is a bundle of energy and just started up this company in 2025. Deadly Nightshade stories are based on archival historic research, home and business owner testimony, news articles and the oral history as told by the pioneers and their descendants. The cemetery tours are amazing. Tours are in Camas, Washington. ” When night falls upon the Camas cemetery, the veil between the two worlds is said to grow thin. As the town quiets, the cemetery comes to life. Some say the site feels like a crowded room, filled with whispers from the past, where emotions run high and the weight of history lingers in the air. Here, settlers, soldiers, and outlaws seem to reach out, beckoning for an audience. Deadly Nightshade Ghost Tours has gained exclusive access to the Camas City Cemetery and our ghost hosts are just dying to take you and yours on a tour.”