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Media Credit: Jason Offutt [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jason Offutt [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jason Offutt [Click to enlarge]

From the Victorian Vaile Mansion in Independence, Mo., to the Lemp Mansion in St. Louis, there are countless haunted places and stories in which ghosts take the form of dogs, girls of the 1800s, and boys in flannel shirts.

Jason Offutt is the author of "Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to the Show-Me State's Most Spirited Spots," which will be released in 2007.

Offutt started researching haunted places in 2001 because his interest was sparked by an unexplained encounter as a child in his family's home which had once been a two-room schoolhouse.

"When I was about 8-years-old, I was walking through my house," Offutt said. "I stopped because there was a little boy standing there looking at me; he was wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans.

"I couldn't tell what color the [boy's]flannel shirt was because I could see through it," Offutt said.

Offutt's book acts as a travel guide for people interested in ghosts and haunted places.

All of the places profiled are open to the public, so readers can go to the spots and try to feel the unexplainable forces people claim exist.

In October 2004, Missouri Life published an article by Offutt where he highlighted six major haunted spots in the state of Missouri, including: Big Cedar Lodge, The Elms Resort and Spa, Lemp Mansion, Hotel Savory, Senior Hall and Vaile Mansion.

As a previous editor of Kansas City, Mo., based magazine The X, from 2003 through 2005, Offutt decided he would include a ghost story for an October issue which led him to the Vaile Mansion in Independence, Mo.

Sophia Vaile killed herself on Valentine's Day in 1883. Even today, guides can feel her presence when they enter the master bedroom, her previous bedroom. Guests have also reported feeling her spirit, and later refused to enter certain rooms in the mansion.

The Lemp Mansion, located in St. Louis, was built in the early 1860s and was purchased by successful beer-maker William Lemp.

Currently a bed and breakfast, the Lemp Mansion was plagued with numerous deaths that account for its mysterious phenomenons. William Lemp's son, Fredrick, died at the age of 28 from heart failure in 1901, the original owner, William Lemp killed himself, and by 1922, William Lemp Jr, died of a heart attack.

"These are the people they think inhabit the house," Offutt said.

Visitors to the house have described seeing a figure that fits the description of William Lemp III sometimes wearing a top hat and carrying a cane.

Visitors who stay in the former room of the Lemp children have reported hearing someone kick the bottom of their door in the morning but were unable to find anyone in the hall at the time.

"His [William Lemp III] kids were lazy and they liked to sleep late…he had the habit of kicking on the bottom of their door," Offutt said.

Offutt was visiting the Lemp Mansion on the third floor during the summer when he discovered a mysterious cold spot he couldn't explain.

"I was walking though this hallway and all of a sudden I got cold, really cold," Offutt said. "I took a step back, and back forward into the cold spot, stepped beyond the cold spot stepped back and it was gone."

So whether you like to visit places for the historic value or you just decide to go ghost hunting, everyone should be on the lookout for Jason Offutt's new book, "Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to the Show-Me State's Most Spirited Spots" set to be released in 2007.

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