Northern Ohio Legends & Lore

Northern Ohio’s past is rich and deep, but it also has a darker and odder side.

A police chase for a UFO began in Portage County and stretched eighty-five miles from Ohio into Pennsylvania. Gangster Pretty Boy Floyd met his end in East Liverpool, and infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer began his murderous career in Medina County. The region is also home to peculiar beings such as Orange Eyes, the Melonheads and the armless Charles Mill Lake Monster.

Join author James A. Willis as he forges a trail across Northern Ohio in search of all things eerie, inexplicable and just plain weird.

James A. Willis has been walking on the weird side of history for more than forty years. When not out chasing after all things strange and spooky, Willis found the time to author more than fourteen books, including Central Ohio Legends & Lore, Ohio’s Historic Haunts: Investigating the Paranormal in the Buckeye State, The Big Book of Ohio Ghost Stories and Haunted Indiana. He is also the director of the Ghosts of Ohio, a paranormal research group Willis founded in 1999. He has been featured in hundreds of media sources, including CNN, USA Today, Midwest Living, Fox Sports, the Canadian Press and the Astonishing Legends podcast. He can often be found lurking around his virtual abode, strangeandspookyworld.com.