Stemie's Place ghost to get TV spotlight

November 21, 2009 Morning Call Article

Stemie's Place, a restaurant at 831 S. Delaware Drive (Route 611) just south of Easton, will be featured in the Nov. 29 episode of Animal Planet's new series ''The Haunted.'' The series, which begins on Sunday and continues through Dec. 10, features ghostly stories and paranormal investigations of places where animals interact with creepy specters.

On the show, the NEPA (northeastern Pennsylvania) Paranormal team and psychic Lauri Moore look for evidence of the ghost of Stemie's Place's, mobster ''Johnny the Wop,'' whom the Stempos discovered was shot and killed in the historic building's basement in July 1928.

In 2002, Maria and Al Stempo purchased The Black Horse Inn, which was built in 1782. The Stempos experienced several chilling incidents but didn't worry until their Yorkie disappeared and their Doberman viciously reacted to the inn's basement. That's when the owners did some digging and discovered the story of gangster Johnny Farrara.

Stempo says ''Animal Planet'' shot 65 hours of film in August for the half-hour episode, called ''Murder at the Black Horse.'' The premiere is scheduled for 10 p.m.

Lauri Moore is known for her radio show, ''Moonlight Messages,'' which airs on 93.5 WSBG in Stroudsburg.

The story of Stemie's is also featured in ''Ghost Stories of the Lehigh Valley'' by Charles J. Adams III.

Copyright © 2009, The Morning Call