Scary stories are traditions around campfires
or at sleep-overs.
Some people share urban
legends, and some people can spook
others with stories from their own
experiences.
A man who studies the paranormal and
has written guides to haunted places
will speak at Beaver Dam Community
Library on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Paranormal research and author Chad Lewis has
travelled the world in search of the
unusual, and his interest in the
unknown began here in Wisconsin.
Lewis will tell haunted
stories from Wisconsin, and share
photographs, eyewitness accounts,
ghost lore and more.
“I’ll be sharing some scary stories, “Lewis
said, “And collecting some.”
Lewis said he has been researching the strange
and unusual for 15 years.
His interest started when he
was a teenager.
“I blame it on Wisconsin,” Lewis said.
He lives in Eau Claire, which he said is not
far from Elmwood, one of three UFO
Capitals in the United States.
He became interested in UFOs
and started talking to people who
believed.
Lewis earned a master’s degree in psychology
at UW-Stout.
“I was curious about what makes someone
believe in the paranormal and has
participated in thousands of
investigations into the unknown.
“In my mind, I’ve always chalked it up to a
rational reason,” Lewis said.
“The easiest answer is the
most logical.”
Lewis said that when interviewing witnesses he
tries to avoid leading questions and
also watch the body language of the
people he is interviewing.
His book, “The
Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted
Locations,” written with
co-author Terry Fisk, includes
information on haunted buildings,
bridges, campground, cemeteries,
parks, railroad tracks, roads and
more.
Lewis and Terry Fisk have
similar guides for
Minnesota,
Illinois,
Iowa and
South Dakota.
Lewis said that books on Florida and Michigan
are in the works, along with a book
on gangster hot spots.
He said that they plan to do
a new edition of haunted places in
Wisconsin that will feature all new
cases.
Lewis also researched and compiled books with
“strange, unusual and bizarre
newspaper stories” from the late 19th
century.
The “Hidden Headlines” series
has volumes for
Wisconsin,
Texas and
New York.
Lewis said that his first book came out in
2003, and the idea for a road guide
was inspired when he was traveling
across Wisconsin and finding that
the directions to haunted places
were terrible and that information
was embellished.
He looked for a guide to
help.
“There wasn’t a book, so we decided to take a
crack at it,” Lewis said.
His research has taken him across the United
States and to Transylvania, Puerto
Rico, Scotland, Ireland, and more.
“I feel like I live on the road,” Lewis said.
Lewis works as a paranormal investigator for
Unexplained
Research LLC, based in Eau
Claire.
He hosted “The Unexplained”
television series and radio program,
and is the former state director for
the Mutual UFO Network.
He works with BLT Crop Circle
Investigations and has presented his
work at conferences, libraries,
universities, schools and private
functions.
To learn more about Lewis and his work, or to
look up haunted locations, visit
www.unexplainedresearch.com.
