h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The next time you're in Eureka Springs, go on a Ghost Tour. You walk all over the downtown area and the guide tells you about all the history and the 'hauntings'. A friend of mine went on one a few years back and told me about it.

One of the stories that stands out is that of one of the previous owners of the Crescent Hotel. It used to be a hospital. People with incurable diseases and cancers came to take the cure in the springs in the area. The Crescent's owner used to have them write several letters to their friends and families at the beginning of their stays so that they would have something to send home if they didn't feel up to writing later. Then, after the people died, he'd mail the letters along with requests for more money. To make the people in the town think that the hospital residents were well and happy, he used to prop dead bodies up in rocking chairs on the porch.