Tag: The Greenbrier Ghost

West Virginia Creating Trail of Haunted Sights to See

West Virginia tourism officials are creating a trail that will highlight the state’s haunted history.

The state Division of Tourism is taking suggestions for places to include on its list of paranormal attractions, events and destinations.

The inventory could highlight legends like Mothman or the Greenbrier Ghost, and include places like the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park or the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.

To be considered for the trail, locations must be open or accessible to the public. It also must be promoted as being haunted by the property owners or, if on public land, by local officials.

Trailer: Two Dollar Radio's 'The Greenbrier Ghost'

The company that published Crapalachia by West Virginia writer Scott McClanahan is venturing into film and one of their first projects will be based on the legend of a Greenbrier County woman murdered in 1897.

Zona Heaster Shue was declared as murdered  after the court heard testimony from the victim’s mother, who  argued that her daughter’s spirit appeared to tell the truth behind her death. Shue’s Husband, Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue (also known as Edward) was convicted of murder and sentenced to the West Virginia State Penitentary in Moundsville. Edward died March 13, 1900 of an unknown epidemic at the prison.

The state  erected a state historical marker near the cemetery in which Zona Shue is buried. It reads:

Interred in nearby cemetery is Zona Heaster Shue. Her death in 1897 was presumed natural until her spirit appeared to her mother to describe how she was killed by her husband Edward. Autopsy on the exhumed body verified the apparition’s account. Edward, found guilty of murder, was sentenced to the state prison. Only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer.    

Co-produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s very own Chris Oxley, The Greenbrier Ghost was heavily mentioned by McClanahan in his memoir based on growing up in southern West Virginia, Crapalachia.

Here’s the trailer from McClanahan and Oxley:

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