{"title":"Sylvia Shults","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"fractured-spirits-book-sylvia-shults-9780984893119","title":"Fractured Spirits","description":"During the first half of the twentieth century, the Peoria State Hospital was the premiere mental health facility of its day. Dr. George Zeller instituted the eight-hour workday for his staff, removed patient restraints, and made the asylum into a model for the care of the mentally ill. Today, there are only a few buildings of the hospital left. Some of them are still in use, others are inhabited only by ghosts. Our guide to these ghosts -- and the history they represent -- is Sylvia Shults. In Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital, she brings a passion for paranormal investigation to her adventures at this haunted hotspot. The spirits come to life once more as Shults explores their former home. Other voices help her tell the story: this is a collection of people's experiences at the Peoria State Hospital. Ghost hunting groups, sensitives, former nurses, and ordinary people share their stories with us, their voices resonating to create a panoramic view to rival the vista of the Illinois River. To visit the remaining buildings of the Peoria State Hospital today is to visit a small piece of history. A ghost story over a hundred years in the making, Fractured Spirits is narrative nonfiction at its finest.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49577505915153,"sku":"GOR008684262","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51010527691025,"sku":"NIN9780984893119","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52672224198929,"sku":"NLS9780984893119","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0984893113.jpg?v=1751332349"},{"product_id":"44-years-in-darkness-book-sylvia-shults-9781892523471","title":"44 Years in Darkness","description":"\u003cp\u003e44 YEARS IN DARKNES\u003cbr\u003e A TRUE STORY OF MADNES, TRAGEDY AND SHATERED LOVE\u003cbr\u003e BY SYLVIA SHULTS\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLost in the shadows of Illinois asylums in the nineteenth century is the strange story of Rhoda Derry. Left at the Adams County Poor Farm when her family could no longer care for her, she spent the next 40 years confined in a wooden box. Abandoned, ignored, and traumatized, she had clawed out her own eyes, pulled her own teeth, and her legs were atrophied to the point that she could not stand on her own, or even sit in a wheelchair. She spent four decades locked away from the world. Her crime? Falling in love.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRhoda suffered a mental breakdown after being cursed by the mother of a boy to whom she was engaged to marry. Committed to the poor farm because of her violent insanity, she was eventually rescued by pioneering alienist Dr. George A. Zeller. She was taken to the Peoria State Hospital in Bartonville, Illinois, where she spent the remainder of her days in comfort. Rhoda died in 1906, but her spirit lives on at the former asylum where she found peace. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe chilling story of Rhoda Derry is one of the great tragedies of mental health care in Illinois, but one of the great success stories of the Peoria State Hospital. Sylvia Shults, author of \u003cem\u003eFractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital\u003c\/em\u003e, returns to the hilltop to tell the story of Rhoda's life -- and her mysterious afterlife. With exhaustive historical research and analysis, as well as laying bare secrets of her own, the author provides twists, turns, and surprises in this compelling tale of history, horror, and a lingering spirit of the old hospital. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50304054919441,"sku":"CIN1892523477VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51054210810129,"sku":"NIN9781892523471","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52430284554513,"sku":"NLS9781892523471","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53671434813713,"sku":"GOR010830309","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1892523477.jpg?v=1750866994"},{"product_id":"fractured-souls-book-sylvia-shults-9781950565375","title":"Fractured Souls","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50414453489937,"sku":"CIN1950565378VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51055242772753,"sku":"NIN9781950565375","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1950565378.jpg?v=1751414485"},{"product_id":"spirits-of-christmas-book-sylvia-shults-9780999604007","title":"Spirits of Christmas","description":"\u003cp\u003eSPIRITS OF CHRISTMAS\u003cbr\u003e THE DARK SIDE OF THE HOLIDAYS\u003cbr\u003e BY SYLVIA SHULTS\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. but are you sure about that? The dark winter nights can hold many secrets, along with tales of both horror and hauntings. In this chilling book, Sylvia Shults has gathered over 120 tales of Yuletide Spirits, Holiday Horrors, and Christmas Catastrophes that give a new meaning to the dead of winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese pages include rollicking legends of holiday helpers with dark sides; gripping accounts of Christmas season fires, train wrecks, and disasters; winter tales of phantoms and haunted houses; and a collection of Christmas spirits that are sure to send a shiver down your spine  Hearkening back to the days of the paperback anthologies of the 1960s, you'll be delighted when you unwrap this package on Christmas morning and start turning page after page of eerie and frightening tales. It's the perfect collection for the spookiest time of the year \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51012248142097,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51012254138641,"sku":"NIN9780999604007","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52477249421585,"sku":"NLS9780999604007","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0999604007.jpg?v=1751171993"},{"product_id":"grave-deeds-and-dead-plots-book-sylvia-shults-9781637897645","title":"Grave Deeds and Dead Plots","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51041369194769,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51041372176657,"sku":"NIN9781637897645","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1637897642.jpg?v=1751376313"},{"product_id":"grave-deeds-and-dead-plots-volume-2-book-sylvia-shults-9781637890912","title":"Grave Deeds and Dead Plots, Volume 2","description":"Welcome to the second volume of Grave Deeds and Dead Plots, the collection featuring true crime stories that have resulted in hauntings. Within these pages are tales of murder, bloodshed, passions running high -- and the hauntings that have followed these events. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDo the victims of true crime remain to tell the tales of their untimely demise? Are the dead still crying out for justice? Do the departed have stories to share? Find out in this second installment of\u0026gt;\u003ci\u003eGrave Deeds and Dead Plots\u003c\/i\u003e, a continuing series by award-winning* author Sylvia Shults. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e*\u003ci\u003eGone On Vacation: Haunted Zoos, Museums, and Amusement Parks\u003c\/i\u003e (First Place, BookFest Awards, Spring 2024); \u003ci\u003eDays of the Dead: A Year of True Ghost Stories\u003c\/i\u003e (First Place, BookFest Awards, Spring 2022)","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51041872806161,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51041876214033,"sku":"NIN9781637890912","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1637890915.jpg?v=1751024922"},{"product_id":"days-of-the-dead-book-sylvia-shults-9781735668987","title":"Days of the Dead","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51049484222737,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51049487040785,"sku":"NIN9781735668987","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1735668982.jpg?v=1751312643"},{"product_id":"hunting-demons-book-sylvia-shults-9781892523969","title":"Hunting Demons","description":"HUNTING DEMONS A TRUE STORY OF THE DARK SIDE OF THE SUPERNATURAL BY SYLVIA SHULTS IN THE DARKNES, HOW DO WE KNOW WHO IS BEING HUNTED? For more than a 150 years, seekers of the unknown have been trying to communicate with the other side, seeking out the lost souls who have died and yet still inhabit the earth. But what if some of spirits being sought were never really human at all? What if what they were hunting was also hunting them? Linda was a seasoned paranormal investigator, founder of a well-respected ghost hunting group, with a religious conviction that allowed her to hear the voices of the spirits that she was seeking to help. Unfortunately, Linda's prayers for the souls of the dead were answered -- but not in the way that she ever imagined. Sylvia Shults, author of Fractured Spirits: Hauntings of the Peoria: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital, presents the chilling true story of a woman who steps over the line into the darkest corners of the paranormal. Encompassing the history of diabolical folklore, possession, the spirit world, and fallen angels, she then reveals one woman's battle against demonic oppression, human frailty and Linda's all-encompassing trust in her God. It's a compelling volume for anyone with an interest in the paranormal and a must-read about the dangers of the supernatural -- and about what just might be waiting for us out there in the darkness. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sylvia Shults is the author of several previous books, including Fractured Spirits and Ghosts of the Illinois River. She describes herself as an open-minded skeptic but has been a paranormal investigator for many years. She goes into the dark and spooky places, she says, so you don't have to  She currently resides in Illinois.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51054405583121,"sku":"NIN9781892523969","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52433006362897,"sku":"NLS9781892523969","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1892523965.jpg?v=1751028397"},{"product_id":"fractured-spirits-book-sylvia-shults-9781951510138","title":"Fractured Spirits","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51060388954385,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51060392034577,"sku":"NIN9781951510138","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1951510135.jpg?v=1751125455"},{"product_id":"gone-on-vacation-book-sylvia-shults-9781958589021","title":"Gone on Vacation","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51060763197713,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51060766212369,"sku":"NIN9781958589021","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52427866898705,"sku":"NLS9781958589021","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1958589020.jpg?v=1750901394"},{"product_id":"taming-of-the-werewolf-book-sylvia-shults-9781952979316","title":"The Taming of the Werewolf","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51210943824145,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51210945822993,"sku":"NIN9781952979316","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/B0CJKY8BZS.jpg?v=1750965268"},{"product_id":"gone-on-vacation-book-sylvia-shults-9781958589267","title":"Gone on Vacation","description":"\u003cp\u003eGONE ON VACATION: ENDLESS SUMMER\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMORE HAUNTED MUSEUMS, ZOOS. 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In this second volume of terror travel, she also takes you to haunted botanical gardens, tourist traps, Halloween attractions, and more! \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo, grab your ticket, buy your road trip snacks, and turn the pages of Sylvia's second book of places where summer is endless and the tourists never go home. Go behind the scenes, step around the \"staff only\" signs, and make your way backstage for more of the secret stories of ghosts and spirits that no one is supposed to talk about!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52531598655761,"sku":"NLS9781958589267","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52757250375953,"sku":"NIN9781958589267","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-sylvia-shults.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}