Haunted cabin at Red River Gorge inspires 'In Shadows Canyon Red' book

In the beginning, Bill and Charisse Stark's little cabin in the woods appeared to be a serene, remote getaway in Kentucky's Red River Gorge. But soon the idyllic hideaway where the Louisville couple planned to retire became their worst nightmare.

Since purchasing the property in 2014, the couple say they have been tormented by the paranormal spirit of a woman who died in the house, and other terrifying unexplained supernatural events have occurred.

“Everybody dreams of owning a place where they can get away from it all," said Bill Stark. "But be careful what you wish for. Be very careful.”

The Starks have documented over 100 supernatural events at their 900-square-foot cabin located deep within the Daniel Boone National Forest. Brilliant bobbing orbs of light, mysterious green mist, electronics suddenly turning on, disembodied voices, and nocturnal footsteps on the old cabin's wood floors are a few of the spooky occurrences.

"I had been coming to the Gorge since I was a teenager, I would sleep out under the stars," Bill told the Courier Journal. "I love it here and was never afraid of this area until we bought this cabin."

Bill owns a video production company and Charisse worked at Valhalla Golf Club as Food and Beverage Director when the cabin was purchased. During the first few years of owning their home, Bill's focus was updating the structure and the surrounding property. Charisse continued to work in Louisville and drove to the Red River Gorge to be with her husband on weekends.

"I wasn't aware of what was going on while Bill was there alone," Charisse told the Courier Journal. "I had a hard time getting him to come back to Louisville. It seemed something was pulling him to this cabin and that started the very first day when something whispered in his ear 'You own this home.'"

Bill remembers the early days working on the secluded cabin as productive and full of adventure but at night, alone in the house, the vibe would change and soon unexplained events began to occur.

He installed a security camera and discovered a black, shadowy figure on the screen moving in front of the garage. The next night, a green mist appeared on the security monitor but when he stepped outside to investigate, he could see no evidence of the mist with his naked eye.

Late one night, as Bill was getting ready for bed, both the television and PlayStation powered on simultaneously. At first, he chalked it up to old electrical wiring. But after carefully checking the connections, the fuse box, and wandering outdoors to see if a branch had fallen on a line and caused a short, Bill came back into the house only to have the television and PlayStation pop on again.

Unsure what else to do Bill tentatively crawled into bed and pulled the sheet over his head.

Eventually, he dared to peek out from the covers in the direction of TV and PlayStation.

And bam, in an instant both of the screens lit up for a third time.

At this point, Bill was truly frightened.

"I found myself jumping out of bed, running scared out of the cabin, and screaming at the top of my lungs," he said.

He spent the night in his car and called his wife in the morning to report, "I think we may have bought a haunted cabin."

As months passed, frightening episodes escalated at the Stark's cabin.

As the weather turned chilly, the couple decided to store a large hammock in the detached garage until spring. They carefully rolled it up and Bill climbed a six-foot ladder to tuck it safely into the rafters. But a few minutes after going back to the house, Charisse remembered she'd left her car keys in the garage.

"We walked back to the garage together," Bill said. "To our astonishment, the double-wide hammock we had just placed in the roof rafters was sprawled out completely unrolled lying in the center of the floor."

Another time the Starks heard loud pounding on the front door. When Bill checked, there was no one outside. What made it more spooky was that the screen door was locked from the inside, which would have made it impossible to knock directly against the wooden door.

There there was the back bedroom, a literal hotbed for paranormal activity.

While napping in the back bedroom, Charisse was awakened by the feeling of being touched on her hip. Another time, Bill heard a woman's voice hollering from the room, and it wasn't his wife.

A friend of the Starks who spent the night in the bedroom said he was woken up by a presence which appeared to be a lady standing over him and when he tried to sit up he was pushed back and pinned down by his shoulders for several moments.

"Charisse was trying hard not to believe that we bought a haunted cabin but enough things were happening," said Bill. "At first ignorance was bliss but after so many events and warnings it's not something you can ignore."

One evening, as the Starks were enjoying a peaceful night on the cabin's front porch, a melee erupted.

Charisse was the first to notice shrieks coming from the forest that "sounded like someone or something was being murdered in the woods," she said.

It was not unusual to hear wild animals at night but this was different. It was loud, guttural, and appeared to be taking place in a valley the couple calls The Abyss, near the cabin.

"It sounded like coyotes were attacking a silverback gorilla and the coyotes were losing horribly," Bill remembered. "It sounded like bodies were being ripped apart and we could hear the thuds as bodies were being thrown around."

A day or two later, Bill went to investigate where the sounds had come from, but there was no evidence that anything had happened.

"It was an area where I had previously found a giant footprint of unexplainable origin," he said. "The footprint was near the entrance to a cave. I have gone back into the cave many times but haven't found anything. I will say that area seems to be a hotbed of unexplained activity."

Charisse added, "between the supernatural and natural things that have been happening in these woods, we have been advised to be armed when we leave our front porch."

After years of cohabitating, the Starks believe the presence who shares their home is a woman who died there after a long illness and unhappy life. Bill says the spirit probably watched people rent her cabin who were not respectful of the property.

"In the beginning, we feel like she was testing us to find out what our intentions were for the property and we think we have proven we are good stewards," Bill told the Courier Journal. "We love being in the Gorge and plan to stay."

Charisse adds the couple has learned ways to co-exist with the spirit who seems to get riled up if there is tension in the house. For that reason, the Starks have learned to stay upbeat and take things in stride with a sense of humor.

"It's now a joyful place," she said. "We play Jimmy Buffett music all day and Bill has decorated the porch with a tropical theme and lots of outdoor solar lighting. We try to keep the vibration high."

Of course, you can't keep a story like this quiet especially when one of the homeowners was known around Louisville in the early 2000s as "Bill from the Ville,” a super fan of the Unversity of Louisville sports. Bill is an upbeat guy who seems to love the limelight and the U of L Cardinals. He also loves talking about his haunted house.

As word spread about the unnerving events happening at the Stark's Kentucky home, it wasn't long before Hollywood came knocking.

Their true-life "Haunted Cabin" story was featured in the supernatural series "Terror in the Woods" on the Discovery Channel in 2017 and is now streaming on multiple platforms worldwide including HBO MAX under the new series name “These Woods Are Haunted,” in the episode titled “Haunted Cabin.”

The show's popularity convinced Bill and Charisse to write about their decade-long supernatural journey. In May, "In Shadows Canyon Red: Our Haunted Cabin in the Red River Gorge" was published. It includes 31 spine-chilling events, many supported by video and photographic evidence, told in chronological order.

The book can be purchased on his “Bill from the Ville” Tele-Vision website merch page at BFTVTV.com. Bill is happy to write you a personalized message when you order a book from his website.

The book is also available at the Frazier History Museum, Carmichael’s Bookstore, and Butcher Cabin Books. Visitors to the Red River Gorge area can buy it in local gift shops, coffee houses, and at featured attractions like The Gorge Underground and Red River Gorge Ziplines.

Reach Kirby Adams at [email protected].