The first in a series, Bonnie Geyer Florek brings you Totally Haunted USA Williamsburg, Virginia is believed to be one of the most haunted towns in America. Some people believe in ghosts, some do not. There have been many skeptics who have become believers after attending a Spooks and Legends Haunted Tour, however. Ghosts have been seen and heard by guests and the presence of spirits have often been felt. Just one visit to the Peyton Randolph House has made believers of previous skeptics. A determined knocking is often heard coming from the inside of the front door. The doorknob rattles loudly and persistently as guests stand listening to true stories originating from within those very walls. And what about the side door slamming shut so hard that it makes you jump back a few steps? These are just some of the goings on in town.....sights that can be seen and sounds that resonate within your mind, long after you have returned home. The George Wythe House is no exception where haunts are concerned. Just stare at those windows and see the inside shutters open and close before your very eyes, though no one is inside the house. No living souls, that is. These are only a few of the many ghostly experiences encountered in the town of Williamsburg. To hear of more excitement, read on and then come and visit us for a one of a kind, ghostly tour. You will never forget nor will you want your ghost-loving friends to miss this. Enjoy *Read Bonnie's other series, Totally Haunted UK, based on researched ghost stories in England.

Human beings have believed in conspiracies presumably as long as there have been groups of at least three people in which one was convinced that the other two were plotting against him or her. In that sense one might look back as far as Eve and the serpent to find the world's first conspiracy. Whereas recent generations have tended to find their conspiracies in politics and government, the past often sought its mysteries in religious cults or associations. In ancient Rome, for example, the senate tried to prohibit the cult of Isis lest its euphoric excesses undermine public morality and political stability. And during the Middle Ages, many rulers feared such powerful and mysterious religious orders as the Knights Templar. Fascination with the arcane is a driving force in this comprehensive survey of conspiracy fiction. Theodore Ziolkowski traces the evolution of cults, orders, lodges, secret societies, and conspiracies through various literary manifestations-drama, romance, epic, novel, opera-down to the thrillers of the twenty-first century. Arguing that the lure of the arcane throughout the ages has remained a constant factor of human fascination, Ziolkowski demonstrates that the content of conspiracy has shifted from religion by way of philosophy and social theory to politics. In the process, he reveals, the underlying mythic pattern was gradually co-opted for the subversive ends of conspiracy. Cults and Conspiracies considers Euripides's Bacchae, Andreae's Chymical Wedding, Mozart's The Magic Flute, and Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, among other seminal works. Mimicking the genre's quest-driven narrative arc, the reader searches for the significance of conspiracy fiction and is rewarded with the author's cogent reflections in the final chapter. After much investigation, Ziolkowski reinforces Umberto Eco's notion that the most powerful secret, the magnetic center of conspiracy fiction, is in fact "a secret without content."