The Historian
About Susan Johnson
Susan Johnson is a Flagstaff, Arizona author, historian, and paranormal researcher: author of Haunted Flagstaff, Wicked Flagstaff, and Flagstaff’s Walkup Family Murders from The History Press, curator of the weekly Flagstaff History column in the Arizona Daily Sun, and co-founder of Freaky Foot Tours.
Thirty-five years deep in Flagstaff
Susan Johnson came to Flagstaff in 1989 and has spent more than thirty-five years learning the town by heart.
The research began with a question. She had read the classic ghost hunters, loved the history of the places they investigated, and wanted to know whether the stories written about her own town held up. So she went to the archives, the newspapers, and the people who remembered. Some stories collapsed under the checking. The ones that survived became a library of research files, then a walking tour, then the books.
In 2015 she founded Freaky Foot Tours with her son, Nick Jones, turning those files into a nightly walk through downtown Flagstaff. The company now walks three Arizona towns, and every route still starts at her desk.
The History Press published her three books between 2021 and 2024: Flagstaff’s Walkup Family Murders, Haunted Flagstaff, and Wicked Flagstaff. The first brought her to Travel Channel’s The Dead Files in 2022; the second and third each made her a Viola Awards finalist. Every week, her Flagstaff History column runs in the Arizona Daily Sun and is carried by the Navajo-Hopi Observer.
I loved the history of the places they investigated and the romantic idea of spirits who lingered, unable or unwilling, to leave. The question that arose in my mind was, ‘Why?’Explore the Books
Susan Johnson moves to Flagstaff and starts pulling threads in the town’s archives.
She founds Freaky Foot Tours with her son Nick Jones, turning decades of research files into a nightly walk through downtown.
A long-form hour on the History Goes Bump podcast, episode 275: the Weatherford, the Hotel Monte Vista, the public library, and the Walkup case.
The History Press publishes Flagstaff’s Walkup Family Murders: A Shocking 1937 Tragedy.
Haunted Flagstaff arrives, and Travel Channel’s The Dead Files features the Walkup case she brought to its two-hour season finale.
Viola Awards finalist, Written Storytelling, for Haunted Flagstaff.
Wicked Flagstaff, her newest book, is published in September.
Viola Awards finalist, Excellence in Storytelling, for Wicked Flagstaff.
The Ghostly Tales of Flagstaff, adapted from her Haunted Flagstaff by Julie Rathsack, arrives from Arcadia Children’s Books.
The Flagstaff History column runs in the Arizona Daily Sun. The research desk never closes.
For the Record
The other Susan Johnsons
It is a common name, and search engines mix the writers who share it. For clarity:
Is this the Susan Johnson who writes romance novels?
No. This site belongs to Susan Johnson of Flagstaff, Arizona: the author, historian, and paranormal researcher who wrote Haunted Flagstaff, Wicked Flagstaff, and Flagstaff’s Walkup Family Murders for The History Press. Several other writers share her name; none of them are connected to this site, these books, or Flagstaff.
Which books did Susan Johnson of Flagstaff write?
Three books with The History Press: Flagstaff’s Walkup Family Murders (2021), Haunted Flagstaff (2022), and Wicked Flagstaff (2024). A fourth title, The Ghostly Tales of Flagstaff (Arcadia Children’s Books, August 2026), adapts her Haunted Flagstaff for readers ages 8 to 12; the adaptation was written by Julie Rathsack.
Is Susan Johnson connected to Freaky Foot Tours?
Yes. She co-founded Freaky Foot Tours in Flagstaff in 2015 with her son Nick Jones, and the company’s walking tours in Flagstaff, Tucson, and Prescott are built on her research.