This was originally published on ActiveRain a Real Estate Network in August 2006. The events are from 2006.

Remember the allure of ghost stories when you were a kid?  Remember being a kid and there was a house in town that everyone told stories about?  Stories that it was a haunted house. Or the people who lived there were "different" or spooky or scary?  Remember ..you'd creep up to the front door on a dare? Knock on the front door? Ring the bell? Play 'ding dong, ditch"? The  really 'wild kids' threw rocks at the windows or pulled other pranks?    

I'd  never heard the kids in Worthington considered a house on the south end of town as "haunted."  I don't have children.  I wonder how many parents knew of their children's curiosity about the house at the edge of the cemetery.  When I heard the story in the news I thought "that house isn't old enough to be haunted."  It's in a post World War Two neighborhood. I think all the homes are cape cods, I showed a house up the street a couple of months ago.  There are some great old houses in Worthington...none are haunted as far as I know.  There are haunted "places" in Central Ohio... including Thurber House in Columbus.

A carload of high school girls went to the Worthington "haunted house" one night this week and one of the five girls was shot, twice.    

Haunted house, cheerleader, back to school time, it all makes an interesting story.   The headlines are all over the board and from all over the world: 

"Prank gone awry stuns Worthington" - Columbus Dispatch

"Teen Shot While Ghost-Hunting Was Having Harmless Fun, Father Says" - Fox News

"Ghost-hunting US teen shot in the head" -Toronto Star

"Shot in head in hunt for 'ghosts' " -Electric New Paper Singapore

"Loitering teen shot" - South Africa

"Teen shot in head at 'haunted' house" - Seattle Intelligencer

"Teen shot in head when looking for ghosts" - Sydney Morning Herald

"Dad laments daughter shot ghost hunting" - Leading The Charge, Australia

"Cheerleader Shows Signs Of Progress In Days After Shooting" - NBC4i.com,

"Haunted house dare gets cheerleader shot" - CNN International

"Uncle Of Shooting Victim Asks For Prayers" - Wheeling Intelligencer, WV

The story before "The Story." - "Family long considered outsiders by neighbors" 

I have been working on an entry about "blight" for my Columbus Best Blog.  Caron Mosey a REALTOR® in Michigan wrote a great blog article about Blight.  Blight can be frustrating for neighbors.   

One of my favorite movies growing up was "To Kill a Mockingbird" from the novel by the same name written by Harper Lee.  It is the story of three children in a small town in Alabama during the Depression.  Part of  the story is about their curiosity about their reclusive neighbor,  Boo Radley.  The children,  Jem, Dill, and Scout go out one night to try to peak into Boo Radley's back window.  As Jem is sneaking up on the house a gun shot rings out from inside the house.  No one is shot in 'Two Kill a Mockingbird.'  

I'm not blaming the victim...in the current Worthington tragedy.  Kids trespass on "spooky houses."  Or houses like the Davis home.   I know I did as a kid. I believe most kids did.  Did you?    

As the Columbus Dispatch story shows the Davis family, including Allen Davis has been at odds with their neighbors and the city for years. "Family long considered outsiders by neighbors" says: A neighbor, who refused to give her name because she feared retribution for speaking out, called the shooting a tragedy for everyone. "I feel terrible for the high school student. I feel bad for Allen and his mother."  

Aftermath: 

Davis was sentenced to prison.  The newspapers had stories about the sentence was too long...the Worthington girl who was shot had another surgery...

In 2007 the Worthington Library did a series of Worthington Ghost Stories... based on long ago ghosts...including:

Dr. Thomas Morrow of the Worthington Medical College...a Worthington Ghost Story

Mary Chase who is buried in St. John's graveyard... A Worthington Ghost

The series of videos made me think of the Worthington girls who went ghost hunting in 2006...

I'd love to hear from you if you have a comment on the topic of ghosts and Worthington's history.  All comments are moderated so you will not see your comment immediately. Thanks.

Copyright 2008 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe