Linda Godfrey about Mary Sutherland Haunted Burlington Wisconsin Thank You Linda There’s something about Burlington: whether it’s because of the way it snuggles around the Fox and White Rivers, its status as a major site of ancient effigy mounds, or something yet undiscovered is hard to say, but it’s definitely a town where all forms of the strange and unusual seem to thrive. Its long history of hauntings, eccentric people and curious happenings deserves documentation, and I can think of no one more appropriate to host a literary tour of Burlington’s weird side than longtime resident Mary Sutherland. Sutherland is not simply a reporter of all these phenomena, she lives them. Presently best known as co-proprietor (with husband Brad) of the Sci-Fi Café and Research Center, Sutherland has spent two decades poking and prodding into the current and past mysteries of Burlington. The former hotel that houses her business is a perfect microcosm of her studies. The historic building features a sealed entrance to an old tunnel system in its basement, a mother and child ghost duo that seem to appreciate the tune, “You are My Sunshine,” and a spirit that makes his presence known by whistling. Former inhabitants of the building have verified that the structure hosted ghosts, secret rooms and scary “shadow people” long before the Sutherlands owned it. As readers should expect, Mary’s studies extend beyond her own experiences. The author and investigator often takes visitors on tours of a park area she believes contains an interdimensional vortex (woe to those who bring the wrong “treats” to the resident vortex fairies), and hosts a yearly Vortex conference with many well-known speakers on anomalous phenomena. She has searched early newspapers and historical volumes to examine events long forgotten by most of the town’s populace, from the esoteric symbols she’s documented on older downtown buildings to the remnants of the once-thriving Strangite Mormon settlement just outside of town. In short, if something floats, morphs, or dematerializes in Burlington, Sutherland probably knows about it and has likely included it in this book. What differentiates Ghosts of Burlington from most tomes on haunted location is that Sutherland also includes her explanations of the unknown realms and phenomena along with tips for heightening the reader’s own psychic awareness. Readers that complete this dizzying journey may find they can no longer look at the lovely little city of Burlington in exactly the same way. Perhaps, then, this book itself may be considered a vortex. And whether or not it actually transports you to another place, it will certainly draw you in. --- Linda S. Godfrey is the author of American Monsters; a History of Monster Lore, Legends and Sightings in America, The Beast of Bray Road; Tailing Wisconsin’s Werewolf, Weird Michigan, and numerous other books about the stranger side of the world. lindagodfrey burlingtonnews.net/books
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 07:51:38 +0000
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