For a couple of months in 2008, Chad Lewis and a crew of researchers were in southern Minnesota hoping to witness strange occurrences.

For instance, Lewis had gotten wind of reports of the legend of the “Brewery Hill Spook Light” in Le Sueur and wanted to check it out. A ball of light had reportedly been floating through the area on certain nights for generations, and there were different theories explaining what it might be. The most popular theory: It was the ghost of a railroad conductor holding his lantern at night.

Lewis, an author from Minneapolis, has investigated thousands of such legends and sightings. He has had a hand in writing a dozen or so books, most of which are road guides for readers to seek out and experience storied places near their own backyards.

On Tuesday, Aug. 24, Lewis will be at the Sibley County Historical Society Museum in Henderson to talk about the stories from the book that came out of his team’s Minnesota research: “The Minnesota Road Guide to Haunted Locations,” co-authored by Terry Fisk, which came out in late 2008.

He will share some of the most scary Blue Earth and Sibley County cases, including photos, case histories, eyewitness accounts, ghost lore and directions.

“Minnesota is full of these really cool places to visit,” he said.

One location Lewis hears about all the time is the house in Janesville with the doll positioned in the upstairs window. A story often told is that a young boy committed suicide there, and the parents put up the doll as a memorial. Some people say the family practices dark arts, and the doll is somehow involved.

The owner of the house wouldn’t talk to Lewis about the doll. The mystery surrounding it is a big part of what makes the doll and the house so intriguing.

“(Some people say) if the doll moves while you walk by, you’re cursed with bad luck,” Lewis said. “Nobody knows the real history of it.”

The team also went to Montgomery to visit and research the golf course, which was built around graves of pioneers. People have reported seeing strange figures wandering around the area.

And they visited a building in Elysian that is said to be one of the most haunted locations in Minnesota: the Le Sueur County Historical Society Museum, which is located in an old schoolhouse. People have reported full-fledge apparitions and noises in the basement when no one is down there.

Lewis and his team spent about six months in ’08 traveling Minnesota. They bring psychics, as Lewis said he has no psychic ability and has never experienced anything he can classify officially as paranormal. He has, however, heard noises and has had strange images show up on film. Psychics have reported being pushed and pinched during their research.

“After doing this so many years, I’ve really come to the conclusion that something is happening, but I don’t know what that something is,” he said. “After 15 years and thousands of investigations, I’m left with more questions than answers.”

Lewis doesn’t go to sights believing the stories and witness accounts are real or not. He goes in to do independent research, talk to as many people as possible, and spend time in libraries and historical societies to catalogue the history of the sight.

Lewis became interested in people’s belief in the paranormal while studying psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and his master’s thesis was on the subject. He would meet with people who believed their house was haunted, or they saw something in the sky they couldn’t explain. Lewis decided to pursue a career in researching, writing and lecturing about these kinds of accounts.

Although Lewis has never had a confirmed paranormal experience, he hopes Minnesotans who venture out to the places in the book are more lucky.

“I hope people will go to these places and something will happen to them when they’re there,” he said. “People say, when you go looking for the weird, the weird comes looking for you.”

Throughout his career, Lewis has tracked vampires in Transylvania, chased the mythical creature Chupacabras in Puerto Rico, searched for the elusive monster in Loch Ness, and pursued ghosts in Ireland’s castles.

He has been featured on the Discovery Channel’s “A Haunting” and ABC’s “World’s Scariest Places.” He has done hundreds of radio interviews, TV appearances and newspaper articles.

 

If you have a suggestion for a haunted location, e-mail Lewis at chadlewis44@hotmail.com.