By MARY STEGMEIR, Courier Staff Writer

CEDAR FALLS --- Residents of Lawther Hall learn about Augie during their initial tour through the University of Northern Iowa dorm.

First reported by the student newspaper in the '70s, the ghost is said to roam the building, fiddling with electronics and leaving cryptic messages for coeds. The apparition is believed to be the spirit of a soldier who died in Lawther Hall when it was used as an infirmary during World War II.

Augie, along with several other Iowa phantoms, is the subject of a March 26 presentation at the Cedar Falls Public Library. Chad Lewis, co-author of the "Iowa Road Guide to Haunted Locations," will take attendees on a visual tour of the state's most spooky nooks and crannies and help participants chart their own course into the supernatural world. Other featured sites include a Marshalltown cemetery, the Villisca Axe Murder House and the Buddy Holly crash site in Clear Lake.

"I don't want people to just sit and hear about these places and then go home and forget about them," said Lewis, a paranormal researcher with a master's degree in psychology. "I want them to visit these places for themselves."

The Eau Claire, Wis., native became interested in the preternatural as a teenager, when UFO sightings were reported in the neighboring town of Elmwood. Since then, Lewis has been on a quest to explain the unexplainable. He's tracked vampires in Transylvania, searched for the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland and chased Chupacabras in Puerto Rico.

In the states, Lewis hunts ghosts but has yet to transcend his earthly bonds. He catalogues others' encounters in his books.

"I have traveled to the most bizarre places in the world, and I have yet to have that experience that I would say was without a doubt paranormal," he said. "We've captured some weird things on film and some weird things on audio, but nothing where I thought it was overwhelming paranormal."

Still, he keeps searching. Traveling around Iowa and other states allows Lewis to weigh the evidence of unusual sightings and decipher fact from fiction.

"I don't know if ghosts exist, which I think is part of the fun of investigating," he said. "Every case I get, I think that maybe I'll get a little closer, but after 14 years, I'm left with more questions than answers."

Lewis' free presentation is sponsored by the Friends of the Cedar Falls Public Library. Public services librarian Aleta Anderson hopes the program attracts adults and teens.

"There's a lot of interest in this kind of stuff," she said. "If you look at what's on TV and how popular vampire mystery books are becoming, you know that people are interested in the supernatural."

More than 40 million copies of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" books have sold since the series was introduced in 2006. And shows like CBS's "Ghost Whisperer," the CW's "Supernatural," and Showtime's now-canceled "Dead Like Me" have developed cult followings.

Perhaps because of those programs, Iowa's Carroll Area Paranormal Team also has seen an uptick in cases over the past few years. CAPT offers free investigation services for individuals who believe their home or person is being haunted, said founder Chris Warneka. The agency handles two to three cases a month.

Unlike Lewis, Warneka has had personal experiences with the metaphysical, including at the Squirrel Cage Jail in Council Bluffs. In his experience, ghosts appear when a deceased individual has an attachment to a place, object or person, or doesn't realize they have died. He recommends caution for anyone embarking on a spirit quest.

"Not everything that walks in is like Casper," said Warneka, a Waterloo-native. "It can be mean and ugly and nasty, and you can get hurt. It can be dangerous --- it's not all the time, but it can be --- and people really need to understand that before they go out and seek the dead."

Lewis takes more a laid-back approach to ghost hunting. His program includes photos, case histories and eyewitness accounts. The author has visited every location featured in the "Iowa Road Guide to Haunted Locations."

"When I was growing up in Eau Claire, young people would always say: 'There's nothing to do around here,' and I bet the same thing happens in Waterloo-Cedar Falls," Lewis said. "I think this presentation shows that there is a lot of fun stuff right in your own backyard, you just may have to dig a little bit for it."

Contact Mary Stegmeir at (319) 291-1482 or mary.stegmeir@wcfcourier.com.