A Haunted Love Story

A Haunted Love Story: The Ghosts of the Allen House by Mark Spencer

A Haunted Love Story is the true story of the Allen house, one of the most haunted houses in America. It was written by Mark Spencer, who lives in the house with his family. He shares with the reader a detailed history of its residents, including Ladell Allen and her family that continue to inhabit the house even after death. The questions behind Ladell's death are answered as the author finds letters hidden under the floorboards in the attic.

Spencer also gives a history of his own time in the house, and the experiences he has had with the spirits that occupy it. They discuss the many times they have seen people that shouldn't be there, and felt things that seem impossible. He tells of their experiences with paranormal investigators, and it is fascinating to read about this relationship that the living family has formed with the ghostly one. The Spencers would discover something missing or out of place, and they eventually learned that it was the prankster Allen playing a trick on them. 

Something lacking in the story is the absence of pictures of the people discussed.  As I read through I found myself constantly saying "I wish they had a picture of Ladell Allen right here" or "What did her son look like?" It also seemed at times as though the author was taking a few too many liberties in what he "guessed" may have happened, although he would always clearly say that it was merely conjecture. But reading about all the things that have happened in the house, and discovering what he learned through the letters certainly make you more curious about the place itself, and you may end up looking information up online to find out more, as I did.

This book is a quick read, and is not particularly scary for a ghost story, but there were times I found myself getting a little spooked as some of the hauntings played out in my mind. It seems unimaginable to me that the Spencers have continued to live in this house! While it is a non-fiction story, it reads as though it is fiction. It is a thrilling tale that brings together the paranormal and a historic tragedy of love and heartbreak.