In her book "Haunted Houses," Roberts writes of an eyewitness account of a suspended candle burning in the windows of the completely empty Andrew Johnson house in Raleigh's Mordecai Square, birthplace of the 17th president. At nearby Mordecai House, a cleaning lady swears a woman in a long black skirt approached from down the long center hall, went into the parlor and disappeared.

Mordecai House can be visited 1-4 p.m. Sundays; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, and guided tours are at 3 p.m. (fee). The house is at 1 Mimosa St. in Mordecai Historic Park off Wake Forest Road, 1/2 mile from the state Capitol. Call 857-4364.

The small wooden house that is Johnson's birthplace is at the corner of Mimosa Street and Wake Forest Road. For information on visiting it, call 834-4844.

Brown Mountain Lights

Brown Mountain is a long ridge that borders Burke and Caldwell counties in the western part of the state. Its ghostly lights were featured in a 1999 episode of "The X-Files."

According to westernncattractions.com, "The Cherokee Indians were familiar with these lights as far back as the year 1200." The Cherokees believed that the lights were the spirits of Indian maidens who went on searching for their husbands and sweethearts who had died in a great battle. Early frontiersman believed that the lights were the spirits of slain Cherokee and Catawba warriors.

Warren and the L.E.M.U.R. team made the cover of a science journal for their groundbreaking investigations into the lights, their "crowning achievement thus far." Their short answer: plasmas.

Three popular spots for viewing the Brown Mountain Lights are the Brown Mountain Overlook, 20 miles north of Morganton on N.C. 181, 1 mile south of the Barkhouse Picnic Area; Wiseman's View Overlook 5 miles south of the village of Linville Falls on Kistler Memorial Highway (Old N.C. 105 or State Road 1238); and Lost Cove Cliffs Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 310, 2 miles north of the N.C. 181 junction.

Lovely Hitchhiker

At an underpass some call Lydia's Bridge, a lovely hitchhiker in a long, flowing white dress flags down a ride. But Lydia disappears from the car once the driver arrives at the High Point address she has given him. When the mother answers the door, the driver hears the sad tale of Lydia's tragic death, on this very night years ago on her way from a party in Raleigh. The mother shows the driver a picture that looks just like his hitchhiker.

The spot where the hitchhiking apparition has been spotted is the U.S. 70 underpass in Jamestown near High Point. Look for graffiti on a bridge. According to the Web site theshadowlands.net: "to the left of this (graffiti) bridge, about 40 feet away and hidden in massive amounts of kudzu, is where the original bridge is, and it's Lydia's bridge."

N.C. Capitol

There have been many reports of ghostly activities in the impressive, dome-topped structure of North Carolina's Greek Revival Capitol. One says a spirit in Confederate uniform roams the second floor; another attributes screams heard today to an 1860s murder on the grounds. A longtime night watchman and workers in the building have reported screams and doors slamming though locked, keys jangling to open locked doors, plus an uninhabited elevator moving among the three floors. One worker reported seeing an apparition, and two employees felt the same "uncomfortable presence" in the same place at different times.

When Warren did a 30-minute special on the haunted Capitol for the History Channel, he was able, with equipment, to hone in on specific spots of "activity." The guide, who had been instructed not to reveal anything about sighting locations, said the spot Warren pinpointed was "where we see the apparition."

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