Hollywood Haunted:

A Ghostly Tour of Filmland

by Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker

Angel City Press, 160 pp., $14.95 (paper)

For the superstitious scandal monger in all of us, this recently revised and updated book of tales asks only that you suspend that tired disbelief in exchange for a camp good time. It offers the otherworldly lowdown on such restless entities as Ozzie Nelson (his ghost is horny), Bela Lugosi, Lucille Ball (her ghost is sad), Montgomery Clift, Howard Hughes, and Errol Flynn (his ghost terrorized Ricky Nelson’s daughter, Tracy … during her Square Pegs years, no less). Those pesky dead superstars, apparently having difficulty facing the ultimate rejection that is physical death, just keep on a-comin’, complete with the requisite inexplicable temperature changes, emotional solicitations, and noisome smells. If you’ve been looking for a single source for offhanded references to “Moe the Gimp” Snyder, a casual discussion about “discarnate intelligence,” or such practical advice on home remodeling as that it can be “extremely irritating or upsetting to a spirit,” here it is.

This article appears in December 31 • 1999.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US