HAUNTED HERITAGE: Author to discuss “Ghost Stories of Central New Mexico” in Los Lunas

LOS LUNAS — Learn more about local history and lore with a spine-tingling twist at an upcoming book signing and discussion, featuring Albuquerque-based author and ghost hunter Cody Polston and his latest book “Ghost Stories of Central New Mexico.”

“Central New Mexico remains a vault of long-buried secrets and restless ghosts,” the book’s description reads. “Bloodcurdling tales from a haunted Civil War battlefield at Val Verde mingle with the whispers of unsettled spirits in Socorro. The notorious Luna Mansion and the cursed rooms of Mountainair’s Shaffer Hotel gather in the otherworldly apparitions of a shadowy past.”

The event, sponsored by the Friends of Los Lunas Library, will be held at the Los Lunas Museum of Heritage & Arts (251 Main Street SE) at 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26, featuring a discussion led by Polston and Q&A session guided by the audience.

“There’s no cost to get in, and most of my books will be there on sale so bring your questions, listen to ghost stories and check off something to do for Halloween,” said Polston.

Originally from Texas, Polston moved to New Mexico in the early 1990s after falling in love with the state and its rich history. What drives his passion for his work is his love for all things spooky and history.

Being a state with a diverse mix of cultures and a wealth of history that spans so far back, Polston said New Mexico is abundant with ghost stories and is comparable to the amount you would find even in the oldest eastern states.

Polston has since visited and wrote about many areas across New Mexico that have a reputation for haunted happenings. He said he usually writes about stories within a specific city but, for this book, he wanted to base it on a region so he could include stories from smaller towns.

“The Luna Mansion was one of the first ones I visited when I first came to New Mexico, but I’ve never been able to write about it before, so I was really anxious to get that out,” he said. “There’s a lot of New Mexico history in it.”

The mansion has long had a reputation for unexplained activity and some believe it to be haunted by Josefita Otero, a former resident of the mansion, among others.

“There was one time we were telling the stories upstairs and we heard what sounded like somebody walking around on the bottom floor, but we were the only ones in the building,” recalled Polston of a visit he made to the mansion in the early 2000s with his group, the Southwest Ghost Hunters Association.

“There were five of us — two guys that were skeptical and two guys that were believers, and I was kind of in the middle. It’s locked up, it’s late at night, so we all went downstairs. There wasn’t anybody down there, but looking around the stairs the chandelier was swinging on that roof straight in the back,” he said. “I always hope to see something, but I never did other than that.”

Another site in Valencia County featured in Polston’s book is the Harvey House in Belen, which he said has a fascinating history to it and is rumored to be haunted.

“The basement of that place is where a lot of the ghost stories come from,” said Polston. “It has a creepy vibe to it, but when we did the ghost hunt of it, we didn’t really find anything, but there’s still stories and I’m really fond of ghost stories that involve something that preserves a piece of history … it’s a way to get people interested in history that would normally probably find it boring.”

In “Ghost Stories of Central New Mexico,” there are about 10 other captivating stories from across the region that Polston has researched. They first delve into the history of the area and then witness testimony of what people claimed happened at the building.

Beyond entertainment and preserving pockets of history, Polston said ghost stories are valuable because they give interesting insight into the cultures that surround them and into people’s world view.

“I think people that believe in ghosts are more likely to see a ghost, and people that don’t won’t but it just shows you how somebody’s belief system guides how they perceive their environment,” he said. “You also have this cultural mix and the whole element of using ghost stories as ways to teach people practical things. Like the ditch witch, for example, you know not to go in the ditches.”

While Polston is a ghost hunter and doesn’t deny the existence of ghosts, he also emphasizes an approach of skepticism in his work.

“One of the characteristics that distinguishes ghost stories from other folklore is that they emphasize the mystery and the inconclusive which invites various types of interpretation,” Polston writes in his book’s preface.

“From my perspective, the answer to the question “Do you believe?” belongs to the people that are telling or listening to a story of a paranormal experience…What I do is take the paranormal narratives seriously. I pay attention to how they are created, why some last and others are forgotten and how they change over time with different storytellers.”

To learn more about Polston and his work, visit codypolston.com.