The Ghosts of Kings Island

Kings Island is an amusement park north of Cincinnati.  It opened in 1972 and I think I've been going there at least once a year, as my father's company picnics were usually held there, ever since.  The years I didn't go at all are made up for in spades by the years I had season passes.

On the most recent trip, we went up the Eiffel Tower (a 1/3 scale replica of the real thing).  The elevators are glass and I watched as we rose.  The counterweight and cables caught my eye and got me to thinking about Tower Johnny.  But he's not the only reported ghost in the park or even the only death related to the park.  

I'm a skeptical believer.  I've had experiences of my own (refer to my earlier blog Do You Believe In Ghosts for more on that) but I try to find a natural explanation first.  Usually it really is just the wind or a trick of the light.  "Ghostyboo" is my go-to comment when something odd happens, but I'm just playing.  It's also a reminder to myself not to jump to conclusions.    

Anyway, for those of you who aren't familiar with Tower Johnny, here's the story.  For many years I thought it happened in 1984 (my senior year) but it was actually the year before.  Friday, May 13, 1983.  A young man enjoying Grad Night, for some reason, crossed into the restricted areas of the tower and into the elevator shaft.  

I looked all this up. (Imagine that!) His name really was John.  I found many different versions of what actually happened that night, most of them making his death even more gruesome than it was.  The official investigation found that he was probably struck by the counterweight, became entangled in the cables, and then fell 200 feet.   I don't think any more description is needed. 

Anyway, since then, people have reported sightings.  It's rumored that park employees call things like anomalous sensor readings "Johnny".  Some claim he's been seen in the area of The Beast because the cables in question are somewhere in the woods around that coaster, which I find ridiculous.  If they disposed of the cables, why did they toss them into the woods? 

The other ghosts associated with the park are Tram Girl and Woody, who may be one and the same.  Tram Girl is the one I remember hearing about even as a child.  Bordering the north parking entrance, there is a small cemetery from the 1800s.  One of the graves belongs to a little girl named Missouri Jane.  Most investigators agree that Missouri Jane is probably Tram Girl.  Tram Girl is generally reported in the parking lot (thus the name - she was often seen by tram operators) and wears an old-fashioned blue dress.   It is believed (why, I was unable to discover) that she drowned in a lake at the rear of the park.

This is where Woody comes in.  In 1985, a river-rafting ride opened at the lake.  At places along the White Water Canyon, there are small shelters used by employees to monitor the ride.  They are quite deep in the woods.  Employees report hearing the laughter of a child, even after the last riders are gone, and rocks being thrown at the shelters.  

There's also Racer Boy.  He's a little boy, dressed all in white, who is seen climbing on the Racer roller coaster.  Sometimes he's seen in an empty seat of the train.  The trains on the Racer are said to have been used previously on another coaster, one a little boy fell from and was killed.  The Racer was there when the park opened - in 1972 - but there were no reports of this ghost until the 1990s.  There's no record of the accident in question.  

There have been surprisingly few deaths at the park, considering its long history and the sheer number of people there even on a slow day.  Most of them were due to people disregarding safety regulations.

The deadliest day in the park's history was Black Sunday.  In 1991, three people were killed in the space of an hour.  At the lake in the Oktoberfest section of the park (not the one mentioned before) a fellow decided to cool off a little by splashing water on himself, or maybe to splash his friend, and fell in.  Presumably, he was convulsing, because he was being electrocuted - there was an previously unknown short in the underwater lights.  His friend and a park employee jumped in after him.  His friend and the park employee died. He lived, but was permanently disabled.  While that rescue was ongoing, a woman riding The Flight Commander fell 60 feet from the ride. (Flight Commander was a "flight simulator".  It could turn upside down at the rider's control.)  It's thought that she was trying to see the air ambulance at the lake or that she passed out from drinking.  There have been no reports of any Black Sunday ghosts, at least not to my knowledge.