The Bell Witch: The Full Account Paperback - 2009

Pat Fitzhugh's fascination with the supernatural began at an early age when he spent countless hours watching TV classics like "Ghost Story," "Dark Shadows," and the locally-televised "Creature Feature," which featured ghost movies every Saturday night. "I was totally into it," he says, "As soon as I heard my parents snoring, I would rush downstairs to the TV and watch scary movies." But one night his mother caught him. "She said that she would start reading me ghost stories at bedtime, which would make me too afraid to go downstairs," he recalls. Of all the stories she read him, the one that impressed him the most, and which would one day introduce him to paranormal enthusiasts and mystery lovers around the world, was none other than Tennessee's Bell Witch legend, which happened roughly fifty miles from his boyhood home in west Nashville. Fitzhugh later learned that he is distantly related to the Bell family through a marriage on his mother's side of the family, several generations back. As a teenager, Fitzhugh began searching libraries and archives for more information about the legend. And thus began a never-ending journey through public and church records, manuscripts, personal interviews, and numerous other sources around the Southern United States. "My goal was - and still is - to find historical facts and create a 'mask' that separates fact from fiction so we can develop a better understanding of the legend," he relates. Pat Fitzhugh has written two books about the Bell Witch: "The Bell Witch Haunting," and "The Bell Witch: The Full Account." The latter is an extensive 406-page account that contains discussion notes and a wealth of history, theories, and perspectives about the legend. Fitzhugh's work in the paranormal field has led him to numerous radio and TV appearances, newspaper and magazine articles, speaking engagements, and a spot on the DVD of the 2006 Hollywood motion picture, "An American Haunting," starring Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek. Days before the movie's release, he discussed the Bell Witch legend with journalists from around the world at an international press conference facilitated by the Associated Press. He also was a contributing author of "Weird U.S.," from Barnes & Noble Press. His next book release, scheduled for October 2009, will be "Ghostly Cries from Dixie," an extensive compilation of ghost stories from the American South.