In 1878 eighteen-year-old Esther Cox arrived in Amherst, Nova Scotia, to live with her sister’s family. Shortly after Esther moved in, the story goes, the house was plagued by unexplained occurrences—something (or someone) knocked on the walls, hid household items, moved furniture around, and set fires. Esther herself was subject to mysterious fevers, prodding and, on one occasion, stabbing. These occurrences followed her when she went to stay with other families in the area. Eventually she was charged with robbery and spent a month in jail, after which the haunting ceased.

Was Esther the victim of paranormal powers or the troubled mind behind a series of elaborate hoaxes? At the time of her alleged haunting, the plausibility of Esther Cox’s claims were hotly debated in newspapers and by fellow Amherst residents. In the hundred years since her death, Esther’s story has been retold numerous times and she remains to this day the town’s most famous historical figure.

Includes 30 photos of key locations in Amherst related to the story as well as Esther's family members.

Laurie Glenn Norris is a writer, researcher and art historian. Her articles and book reviews have appeared in the Quill & Quire, Atlantic Books Today, Telegraph-Journal(Saint John) and the Daily Gleaner (Fredericton).

Laurie’s first book, Cumberland County Facts and Folklore (Nimbus), was published in 2009; her second, Haunted Girl: Esther Cox and the Great Amherst Mystery, with Barbara Thompson, (Nimbus) 2012, was a finalist for the 2013 Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing and in 2015 it was optioned for a feature film.

Laurie lives in River Hebert, Nova Scotia with her husband Barry, a free-lance editor, and four naughty kitty cats.    

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Barbara Thompson has been involved in the history museum and heritage field for twelve years. She was the director/curator of the Cumberland County Museum in Amherst and is currently director of the DesBrisay Museum in Bridgewater. Trained in commercial design, Thompson spends much of her time researching women's lives and watercolour painting. She currently lives in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

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