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The ghostly woman of Summit Cut Bridge, a black hound that guards the Gates of Hell, the whispering dead entombed beneath the Black Cross, The Revolutionary War witch Moll Derry, the phantom bride of White Rocks, and the angry specter of a steel millworker burned alive in a ladle of molten iron -- these are the spirits of southwestern Pennsylvania! Ascend the secret stairs of the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh and wander the dim stretch of Shades of Death Road in Washington County to encounter these and more otherworldly denizens of the Keystone State. -
Ghostly travelers are said to wander the lonely roads of western Pennsylvania. A creeping fog rises from Blue Mist Road, and stories of car crashes, lynchings and even strange beasts haunt this isolated stretch outside Pittsburgh. Is it the angry spirit of a jealous husband or a gypsy king who stalks Erie County’s Axe Murder Hollow? Shades of Death Road in Washington County may be host to phantom coal miners killed during a deadly labor dispute. With firsthand accounts and historical research, authors Thomas White and Tony Lavorgne travel the backcountry roads and byways of western Pennsylvania to discover their ghost tales and mysterious legends. -
Hidden History of Pittsburgh boasts a collection of riveting firsthand accounts and anecdotes found deep in the archives of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. When Mark Twain visited in 1884, he claimed to spy a little bit of hell in Pittsburgh’s smoky appearance. The Ringling Brothers Circus held its last outdoor performance here in 1956 and left eight hundred show workers without jobs in the city. The Great War hit home after the sinking of the Lusitania, which carried more than a dozen Pittsburgh residents. A few years later, cheering throngs of black and white residents lined downtown streets to welcome African American soldiers returning home from the conflict. With these stories from the archives and more, veteran journalist Len Barcousky shines a light on the hidden corners of Pittsburgh’s history.
