History 21 The Podcast - 4.19 Reboot Ghost Stories with Ambi and the BWH
To officially kick-off Ghost Tour season at ACHS, a classic reboot episode of Ghost Stories! In 2022, we sat down with Ambi Wine Bar and The Big White House to talk about their ghostly encounters. Both businesses are stops on the Ghosts of Anoka Tour which run September and October in the City of Anoka. This episode originally published September 2, 2022.
Host Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator and Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director.
The Big White House at 1900 Third Ave. S., Anoka.
Ambi Wine Bar at 2015 2nd Ave. N., Anoka.
Vault Extras
Ambi Wine Bar full conversation
The Big White House full conversation
Anoka County Library Minute
Further Reading:
Cozy Mysteries:
Ghost Hunter Mystery series by Victoria Laurie (MYSTERY LAU)
This mystery series features main character M.J. Holliday, a ghost hunter and medium, who, along with her partner, Gilley, helps to solve various paranormal happenings.
Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery series by Christy Fifield (MYSTERY FIF)
The owner of a Florida souvenir shop, Glory Martine, along with her haunted parrot and other resident ghosts of the store, help to solve local murders.
Witchcraft Mystery series by Juliet Blackwell (MYSTERY BLA)
This series follows Lily Ivory, a witch who can sense vibrations of the past, as she tries to live a semi-normal life as a vintage clothing store owner in San Francisco. However, as locals begin to turn up dead, she uses her power to help solve the mystery of whodunnit.
Nonfiction:
Haunted Heartland by Michael Norman (133.1 NOR)
This book compiles ghost stories from all over the upper Midwest states, including Minnesota. Read about a homesteader ghost in Monticello who likes to mess with his new tenants, the several apparitions purported to haunt a Summit Avenue home, and many other stories.
This book features a plethora of ghost stories originating in our state, including one about a horse named Dan Patch that set a mile pacing record in 1906. It is said that this phantom is best witnessed on a late afternoon in early September at the State Fairgrounds.
Twin Cities Haunted Handbook by Jeff Morris (133.109776 MOR)
A handy guidebook for the ghost-lover! This book highlights several locations in Anoka, including some antique stores. Each location highlighted in the book has the same few sections: directions for finding it, the history, the ghost story, and what prospective visitors should know before going.
History and Hauntings of the Halloween Capital by Roxy Orcutt (977.665 ORC)
This book is dedicated specifically to the haunted locales in the city of Anoka, as well as the city’s strange history as the Halloween Capital of the World. What started as a way to deter local kids from causing trouble, turned into a way of life for the town.
Children’s materials:
Ghostly Reunion by Thomas Kingsley Troupe (J FICTION TRO)
As part of the Haunted States of America series, this middle grade book is about a family reunion set in Hibbing, Minnesota that gets interrupted by a ghost the main character encounters while touring an old bus museum.