The Myrtles Plantation

The True Story of America's Most Haunted House

By: Frances Kermeen

Narrated by: Sophie Amoss

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Welcome to the Myrtles, the most haunted house in America.

Broken clocks tick...beds rise in the air...paintings fly across the room...locked doors fling open...crystal chandeliers shake...heavy footsteps and eerie piano music sound in the dead of night - and that's just for starters. Welcome to the Myrtles. Long recognized as America's most haunted house both by parapsychologists and the media, the Myrtles is a 28-room Louisiana bed-and-breakfast once owned by Frances Kermeen.

In this spine-tingling chronicle, Frances tells the story of how she was drawn to this former plantation mansion, its bone-chilling history, and the incredible encounters of the ghostly kind she had that forever changed her beliefs about the supernatural - and just may change yours. 

Along with the sometimes terrifying, sometimes benevolent hauntings, her years at the Myrtles also brought death threats from the Ku Klux Klan, the tragic loss of friends, a catastrophic betrayal, and other personal challenges. And they would all converge with the paranormal phenomena around her into one cataclysmic event....

©2005 Frances Kermeen (P)2020 Grand Central Publishing

Interesting BUT...

Interesting read but it’s filled with the author’s personal angst and life issues with a few ghost stories sprinkled throughout. **SPOIL ALERT** The whole book leads up to the author discovering her husband was cheating on her with a young girl they had taken in as a pseudo daughter (she was also a special needs child which is mentioned in the beginning but not towards the end when the husband is caught banging the chick). The author tries to use the excuse that the former resident of the plantation was somehow influencing her husband to sleep with the special needs pseudo daughter but it’s FAR from anyone being possessed.

It’s basically a woman’s story about owning and running a business on her own in the south. And by the way she saw a few shadows out of the corner of her eye from time to time.

Had the author TRULY have been frightened by ghosts, there’s no way she would have remained in the house for so many years, welcoming new guests to stay and possibly be scared to death. She compares her story to that of Amnityville which is a stretch. The family who moved into that home supposedly lasted only a month. She willingly stayed at the plantation for years so she couldn’t have been that scared. She was apparently wealthy enough to do as she wished.

Oh yes, and a book about a haunted plantation wouldn’t be complete without a racial aspect. The author is stretching the story at this point and implying the KKK didn’t want her to host a black prom. She received a threatening phone call...shocker. It’s the SOUTH. None of which has anything to do with the paranormal or hauntings.

The more I review it the more ridiculous the book starts to seem. Save your credit and read a good fiction ghost story - you’ll be far more entertained.

Southern Stereotypes and a Yankee Drama Queen in Louisiana

Southern Stereotypes and a Yankee Drama Queen in Louisiana
should be the title of this book. The author’s overly dramatic recounting of the alleged “paranormal” events is only made worse by the twisted pretzel logic/ poor decisions that she makes to justify how she responds to them. For example, she is alone in the house, locked in her bedroom with her faithful dog at her side when she hears loud crashing and someone entering the house. The event escalates into violent twisting of the doorknob and banging on her door. She recounts a convoluted thought process that stops her from calling the police to stop a potential intruder for fear that the home invader is a ghost. She decides to remain silent and not call for help; meanwhile her dog doesn’t bark even once.

The author goes on to describe an incredulous account of a winter storm that leads to days with the electricity/phone going out, water pipes freezing then bursting and other disasters, only to be miraculously solved hours before guests arrive for a historical reenactment of the murder of the home’s former owner.

Another In a disturbing account of an alleged rape that happened in the home, she again goes into a convoluted explanation of why she does not scream for help from one of multiple staff in the home. Incredulously, one of her employees enters the room to use her bathroom, assuming there are no other toilets in the house, passes the author while she is being assaulted (again no scream) without so much as a startled reaction. To make matters worse, the employee playfully responds to the author’s allegation that she’s been raped with a “of course you were” wink , wink.

As if that weren’t enough, there’s the stereotypical references to the Klan and down home, Southern black folk as quaint simpletons there to cook for and placate their fragile, white mistress.

Sprinkled throughout are historic references to the families who occupied the house before her, All of the historical the information always come back to the author and her belief that SHE was drawn to the home because SHE is the reincarnation of Sarah Matilda and it is HER that is suffering as homes former mistress had many years before her.

Altogether this book is an overly dramatic account of the author’s poor life and business decisions. She decides to leave her privileged life in Yankee Northern California and live among the primitive people and their ghosts in Louisiana. Then comes to the realization that SHE is another chapter in the historical drama that took place in the home more than a hundred years ago. Bottom line, if you like soap operas loosely based on history, this one is for you. If you want history, the paranormal and an I witness account of events, not so much.

Love it

Best story, hard to stop listening, I would read again. I could say it's addictive!

In accurate about the south

Inaccurate about the south. Who ever wrote this book had never visited the south and/or no clue of the culture especially current data. As stated the information is inaccurate and was written as if the time was 1950’s. Schooling is not segregated and sharecropping ended in 1950.

It was offensive and I couldn’t finished the book. Please accurately learn the area before you used as a main objective of the story.

Good story

I liked the book for the most part. Some things about it bothered me but they aren’t worth mentioning. I definitely didn’t like the voice of the person reading it. That might just be me though because I never seem to like the voice of anyone reading a book. I think it’s all the different voices they try to use. They just sound so silly or annoying. It is what it is though. Not a good reason not to listen.

Great story

I really enjoyed this title!! Was fast paced and held your interest. Makes me want to go visit the Myrtles.

Beyond belief

I have mixed feelings about this book. It took awhile to hold my attention. And honestly there were times I didn't particularly like the author. But once it started going, I couldn't stop listening.

The stories are incredulous. Almost soap opera crazy at times with so many characters, adultery and death in addition to the over the top haunting. It makes the Amityville Horror look like child's play.

If you enjoy a good personal account of hauntings, I would recommend it.