Local Author Brings History and Hauntings to Life

By Mary Casey-Sturk

Things that go “bump” in the night have long fascinated the reading public. Local author, Steven J. Rolfes, has been researching and sharing stories that might send shivers down your spine. Books such as the Supernatural Lore of Ohio and Beware the Banshee’s Cry: The Folklore & History of Messengers of Death have explored stories around greater Cincinnati and beyond. In the latter, he journeys to the Emerald Isle and explores the history and the mystery of banshees. Banshees are the messengers of death and have been feared for centuries. 

He shares numerous examples of banshees, including a phantom washerwoman in Brittany, Scotland’s Spector of the Bloody Han, and the death hag of Wales. In the United States, he shares the omens leading up to President Lincoln’s assassination. In Supernatural Lore of Ohio, readers learn the legend of the ghost of Lincoln’s funeral train that rolled through Urbana, Ohio, causing clocks and watches to stop in its wake. Chills. 

Rolfes also delves into local history with books including Historic Downtown Cincinnati (with Kent Jones), The Cincinnati Court Riot, Cincinnati Landmarks, and Cincinnati Theaters.  

A prolific writer and lover of history, Rolfes has also hosted a radio talk show on the supernatural, volunteered at the Cincinnati History Museum and other organizations while raising his family and working full-time.

Hyde Park Living Magazine spoke with Rolfes about his love of history and some spooky spots around town. 

When did you get the history bug?  Rolfes shares, “I have loved Cincinnati history since my college days. For a few years I was docent at the Cincinnati History Museum. I loved to take small groups such as families into the Civil War room and tell stories. I was delighted when my first book was about the history of the city.” Continuing, “My first book was co-written with another History Museum docent, Kent Jones. It was titled Historic Downtown Cincinnati and was released in 2011. I had contacted Arcadia about a different project, but they asked me to write a book about the history of downtown. I loved every minute of writing it.” 

Let’s talk hauntings!

“For some reason, many of Cincinnati’s hauntings seem to occur either downtown or on the west side, but there are some spooky spots in the east.  Oakley has a number of haunted sites. The old 20^th Century Theater is haunted by a projectionist who didn’t want to leave. Must have loved his job. Across the street is an extremely haunted location (3036 Madison Road-the former site of Habits Café).” Rolfes continues, “My best-loved eastside haunting was closer to the river. In the late 1800’s a house suddenly had pictures etched in anything made of glass, from windows to lamp chimneys. These would often show riverboats and ice flows- a very dangerous situation in the day and the cause of numerous accidents. People would come around to try to disprove the phenomena, but always walked away with jaws open, unable to explain what they had just seen. The etchings would vanish after a few hours as if they were never there. The details of this are in my book Supernatural Lore of Ohio.”

“One of my favorites from the eastside is Moonlight Gardens in Coney Island. Several ghosts have been seen there over the years, particularly a spectral man and woman dancing in the pavilion. No one can hear the music but them, but people sometimes see them dancing cheek to cheek, two people obviously so much in love that a little thing like dying would not stop them from being together. With plans for the complete demolition of old Coney Island, I guess this is soon to be their last dance.”

“An eastside Cincinnati classic is the ghost of the King of the Bootleggers’ wife, Imogene Remus, haunting the gazebo in Eden Park. She was murdered by her gangster husband there. On rainy nights, she is still seen trying to run away. George Remus was found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity.” 

Where do you think the spookiest places are in Cincinnati?

“Probably the most haunted spot in Cincinnati is Music Hall. This was built over a Potter’s Field, and apparently, some of the ghosts are music lovers. I am personally enthralled by the Cincinnati Zoo, where the ghost of a lioness has been said to follow visitors around. That would be a bit unnerving! The Art Museum has a seven-foot-tall dark specter that appears in the little Spanish chapel on the second floor. Other wraiths have been reported emerging from the mummy sarcophagus. I have recently heard second hand that a worker at the museum office area has been hearing the ghostly sound of a typewriter. Can someone get her a computer?”  

Have you seen anything unexplained during your research?

“I wish that I could- but apparently, I’m about as psychic as a doorknob.” Laughs Rolfes, “At the Cincinnati History Museum, there used to be an old-fashioned stove on display just before you left. I never saw anything there, but my friend Doug Weise and my wife Terri have both seen a quick glimpse of a lady in old-fashioned clothing bending over the stove cooking something.”

“The only time that I felt a presence of a spirit was in Washington, DC, walking out of Ford’s Theater. Once while walking in one of the older sections of Spring Grove Cemetery, I suddenly smelled the overpowering scent of a cigar. It was a very windy day and there was not a person around, nor had I passed anyone. But I could clearly smell a cigar. Sadly, there was no brandy to go along with it.”

Read more.

Rolfes’ books are available on Amazon and other bookselling sites, as well as from the publishers. He is currently working on a book about the Borgo Pass.  The book follows the chain of historical events from the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia (at the time British East Indies) right up to the 1897 publication of Dracula. It then has commentary on the symbolic meanings in the novel, and even mentions a few of the later films, such as the lawsuits resulting in the release of the 1922 classic Nosferatu.