By Manda Barger. • Photos provided by Bill Stark
Who doesn’t love a good ghost story around Halloween? But this isn’t your regular, run-of-the-mill tall tale. Submitted for your approval: the true life haunted cabin story of Bill and Charisse Stark. A Kentucky couple that ventured to live in the Red River Gorge, only to find their natural surroundings to be… supernatural.
Bill Stark is a Louisville Kentucky native that owns and operates Stark Video Productions, Inc. He is also known as “Bill from the Ville”, the Cards #1 Fanatic, featured multiple times on TV, sharing his love for the University of Louisville Cardinals. From handing pom poms to the cheerleaders at age 5, to ESPN highlight reels at age 50, Bill’s love for his hometown community, “THE VILLE”, has never waivered.
“Everybody dreams of owning a place where they can get away from it all, BUT be careful what you wish for… be very careful.” - Bill Stark’s opening quote from his first book released in May 2024 titled,
IN SHADOWS CANYON RED-OUR HAUNTED CABIN IN THE RED RIVER GORGE
Throughout his life, Bill often escaped the city to explore remote areas in Kentucky’s deepest backwoods. As a teenager Bill frequently visited the Red River Gorge, tracing steps that his hero Daniel Boone forged 250 years ago. “The Gorge” is a rugged and steep wilderness territory that stretches through the Daniel Boone National Forest. It is stunning, filled with narrow ravines, sandstone cliffs, a beautiful river and natural rock formations. It’s a hikers paradise. Bill introduced his wife Charisse to “The Red” and it became their regular camping getaway.
As fate would have it, a cabin they rented became available to purchase in 2014. “I think I know why we got it cheap, the owner NEVER mentioned that a lady passed away in the cabin. We found that out the hard way,” Bill explains.
It didn’t take long before a persistent paranormal presence made itself known with bizarre phenomena happening on a regular basis. Bill spent a lot of time alone at the cabin
working on a list of home improvements- including the installation of security cameras.
The cameras are triggered by motion to record events. “They helped me feel safe, until strange anomalies started showing up on the monitor.” Stark said.
After only a couple of weeks at the cabin, unexplainable angelic orbs and ethereal mists began appearing. “They were floating around the cabin. Some looked like they were dancing in the moonlight. It was really strange. I went outside to investigate and saw nothing,” Bill explained. “The anomalies were only visible through the infrared security cameras.”
As time passed, more eerie occurrences unfolded. Electronics like the TV, Playstation and radio began suddenly turning on at 3 AM. Bill did his best to debunk the events as old cabin wiring, but found no logical answers. Ultimately, Bill’s fear ran him out of the cabin, where he found himself sleeping in his car one night. Days later he was still astonished and terrified by what he witnessed.
Supernatural events continued to escalate. Large and small objects began moving on their own. The Starks heard disembodied voices accompanied by a lady’s laughter and whiffs of perfume. Footsteps could be heard late at night walking on the cabin’s original oak floors. “We still hear footsteps to this day,” Bill said.
One story Bill shares in his book is of a six-foot double wide hammock that was rolled up and stored for winter in the garage. “It took a 6 foot ladder and some acrobatic moves to get it up between the attic rafters. I wedged it tight against the roof line and put umbrellas next to it to keep it snug,” Bill stated. Five minutes later, he and Charisse returned to the locked garage, opened the door, and were amazed to find the hammock sprawled out on the floor end to end. “It looked as if someone had been swinging in it,” Stark said. “Nothing else was moved, the umbrellas were still intact.”
One evening while sitting on their deck, the couple heard loud bassey guttural growls emanating from the valley below they call “The Abyss”. It was a noise way beyond your typical wildlife. “It sounded like a massive silverback gorilla was being attacked by a pack of coyotes, and the coyotes were losing badly!” Charisse and Bill described what they heard sounded like bodies being ripped apart, then hitting the ground with a thud. “It was terrifying!” Bill said. The following day, he went out to investigate with camera in hand, only to be shocked to find no evidence of a struggle. Bill moved slowly across the ridgeline, suddenly a booming tree knock reverberated through the forest. “I could feel it in my chest, it felt like a warning to STAY OUT!” he said. “I’ve heard many tree knocks, some followed by rocks being thrown at me. Thankfully my camera was rolling or no one would have believed me,” Bill exclaimed.
The Stark story earned the national spotlight as the “GHOSTOBER” Halloween special in 2017.
After a big snowstorm in 2015, Bill and a buddy went hiking through the woods and discovered strange footprints that Bill posted online. It got a lot of people talking because it did not fit the mold for a Bigfoot or any other known creature. Soon, Discovery Channel producers started calling. Bill and Charisse were asked to share their story on a new series called Terror in the Woods. Their episode called “Haunted Cabin” featured a handful of supernatural events with some incredible evidence to support their story. The show was a success and is now streaming worldwide on multiple platforms including HBO MAX under the new name, These Woods Are Haunted.
Now after 10 years at the cabin, over 100 supernatural events have been documented. Many supported by video and eyewitness accounts. Bill’s debut as an author chronicles the Stark’s incredible decade-long supernatural journey from paradise to paranormal.
IN SHADOWS CANYON RED-OUR HAUNTED CABIN IN THE RED RIVER GORGE, consists of 31 spine chilling chapters describing in detail encounters with ghosts, local legendary cryptids, unexplained lights, guttural growls, strange footprints and more. After researching the cabin’s history, many disturbing facts are discovered with shocking revelations about the previous owner.
Bill and Charisse believe the spirit of the woman who died in the cabin remains on the property. She has revealed herself to paranormal investigators, explaining she had a hard life and is stuck in transition. The couple thinks they were being tested by the ghost due to the behavior of previous renters at the cabin. “It was like a party cabin... I think people abused her home and didn’t respect it. We have learned respect is a key at the cabin,” Bill shared as he took a deep breath. “It’s been a difficult struggle to coexist with spirits in and around the cabin. When what you see and feel blurs the lines of reality, it changes you FOREVER!”
You might wonder why they still live in the cabin? “Because it’s our home! If you could see where we live you would understand, it’s GORGE-OUS,” Stark said. “We feel like we have been put here for a reason. Perhaps it’s to share this story? I wish I knew!
All I really know is that I was compelled to write this book.”
The Starks have been through a lot. Their dream cabin in the middle of nowhere became a living nightmare. Fortunately, with help from spiritual and empathetic people, they have learned several coping mechanisms. “We keep the cabin vibrations up by playing Jimmy Buffett music on Radio Margaritaville 24 hours a day,” Bill said. “We have learned to cleanse the cabin’s negative energy with sage, crystals, tuning forks and prayers to our guardian angels.”
Bill’s book IN SHADOWS CANYON RED-OUR HAUNTED CABIN IN THE RED RIVER GORGE can be purchased on his “Bill from the Ville” Tele-Vision website merch page at BFTVTV.com. You can also scan the QR code attached. Bill is happy to write a personalized message to you when you order a book from his website.
In Louisville, the book is available at the Frazier History Museum gift shop, Carmichael’s Bookstore and Butcher Cabin Books. Visitors to the Red River Gorge area can buy the book in local gift shops, coffee houses and featured attractions like The Gorge Underground, and Red River Gorge Ziplines. Currently five Kentucky State Parks carry Bill’s book including:
Natural Bridge, Fort Boonesborough, Cumberland Falls, Jenny Wiley and Carter Caves.
You can see the evidence for yourself and be a part of Bill and Charisse’s supernatural journey. Follow them on social media and their BFTV-TV YouTube Channel. Plans for a future PODCAST are in the works. Bill says to “Standby…THIS is gonna be FUN!”
“Bill from the Ville” Tele-Vision is a celebration of life through the art of imagery and storytelling. It’s about being at the “Right Place, at the Right TIme, with the Right Mind!”
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