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One of her most successful
writing ventures, at least in local
sales, was a collection of ghost
stories she’d heard about or were
told to her. Called “Ghost Stories
of the Illinois River” and pub-
lished in February 2010, it was a
top seller at local bookstores. It
was while giving a talk about the
book at the now-closed Borders
store that Shults realized there
has never been a full-length book
about the ghost stories from the
former state hospital and insane
asylum in Bartonville.
She is now compiling stories
to put into a book she will call
“Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at
the Peoria State Hospital,” with
hopes of completing it by the end
of the year. “When I tell people
about the book a lot of them will
say, ‘have I got a story for you.’
I write them all down. And I
want to put together an interac-
tive website to coincide with the
book’s release so people can tell
their stories,” she said.
Shults then began looking
deep into the haunted hospital.
She knew it was time she did so,
especially since she has a love of
the paranormal and is herself a
paranormal investigator. “I just
believe that I can’t begin to un-
derstand the hauntings that go on
there now without knowing the
history of the place,” she said.
Shults now has been to the
hospital and its various build-
ings, including the Bowen
Building and the Pollak Building,
numerous times. She has worn
paths through the cemeteries
where bodies of former patients
are buried, the majority identi-
fied on their tombstone by only a
number.
“There was such a stigma
attached to that place and then
when it closed everything was
left behind. Everybody’s belong-
ings were still there, including of
those that had died years before.
So their spirits were encouraged
to hang around. It was basically
the only place they felt safe,” she
said.
She spoke as if she is a true
believer in ghosts. “Oh my yes, I
definitely am. I’ve had too many
experiences not to believe,” she
said. She then described a couple
of those experiences, such as
when a tape recorder picked up
a male voice saying “too many
people here, too many people
here” when she was in the Bowen
building with only a couple of
other women.
At the Pollak Building, where
thousands died because it was
the asylum’s tuberculosis hospi-
tal, she was in the basement with
a group from Peoria Paranormal
and felt warmth on her hand,
the that sensation she was being
touched on her fingers.
“The joy of communicating
with someone in the spirit world
is wonderful. Still, I am a big
skeptic by nature. You have to
show me before I will believe
something. Ironically I’ve loved
ghost stories since I was a little
girl but I had no experiences
myself until I actually went out
looking for it,” she said.
One reason she is excited about
“Fractured Spirits” is because
she believes there will be a lot
more personal connection for
readers because so many people
have either had experiences at
the Peoria State Hospital or have
heard about it. And with her own
experiences added in, “I think
this book will have a lot more
passion than simply retelling
ghost stories.”
She added, “To actually know
what I’m talking about makes a
good starting point.”
Shults said she considers
herself an artist and that writing
itself is an art. “It takes a thor-
ough grounding in what you are
trying to do. Putting it together is
not as much talent as it is craft,”
she said.
For helping craft stories Shults
uses a lesson learned almost by
accident. “I once overheard an art
teacher talking and he described
how to create a portrait. From
what he said I learned how to
outline my stories. Using other
forms of art to help with your
own is creativity feeding on
itself.”
She reads a lot of other authors,
fiction and non-fiction, and learns
something from each. “I try and
take what I learn and make my
own work better and as exciting
as they made their stories,” she
said.
She intends to write as long
as she can while always being a
student of life — and the afterlife,
of course. That’s something she
can get pretty regular servings
of, also.
She and her husband Rob
Shults own The Cantina on Court
Street in Pekin, a whisky bar that
frequently has live entertainment
and can be booked for private
events. It frequently has paranor-
mal activity, Shults said, describ-
ing stories told to her and Rob by
former owners and bartenders.
It includes one of a man who
was seen walking into the bar in
a tuxedo and top hat and going
straight into the men’s room.
When he didn’t come out after
several minutes the bartender
went to check on him and there
was no one there.
“We’ve had our own experi-
ences there, but nothing I would
call scary. The bar used to be the
meeting place of the Knights of
Pythias fraternity,” Shults said.
The motto of the Knights of
Pythias is “Peace Through Un-
derstanding.”
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