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A City of Ghosts
 
 

A City of Ghosts [Kindle Edition]

Betsy Phillips
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Print List Price: $12.99
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Book Description

September 1, 2010
No one knows for sure why Nashville has so many ghosts. Maybe it's because the place has been inhabited for 13,000 years. Maybe it's the lingering memories of the Civil War. Or maybe it's just because this is where the Devil keeps a summer home.
Whatever the reason, this is the place where the living and the dead linger too long in each others' company. Babies long since dead still cry in church parking lots only to be comforted by current parishioners. A friendly neighbor continues to cook breakfast years after his body is under ground. And something, not animal, not human, not alive, stalks living prey in the old tunnels underneath the downtown. In tales that range from spine-tingling to heart-breaking, A CITY OF GHOSTS brings to life an alternative, haunted history of Nashville.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Betsy Phillips lives just outside of Nashville in Whites Creek, TN. She has seen a ghost in her back yard.

Product Details

  • File Size: 217 KB
  • Print Length: 222 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 145369983X
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0041OSC2Y
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,489 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Calvino Meets Country Music October 20, 2010
By Kate
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I should admit that I am biased, in that I consider Betsy Phillips to be a friend.

Of course, my bias and friendship with the author also lends an additional layer of richness to this already wealthy collection of stories. Over the years I've read nearly a hundred ghost story compilations, as I'm unable to resist a good, well-placed scare. I grew up and still practice a religion that centers around brutal execution, human sacrifice and the paranormal. So a good ghost story can not only scare me but can also create a feeling of warmth and comfort. (Have you heard the one about the ghost sent to comfort people when their best friend leaves the planet?)

These ghost stories--invented by Phillips in a twin homage to Italo Calvino's Hidden Cities and the old-fashioned haint tales of the Appalachians--are some of the best examples of how to haunt a page. They are none of them overlong, serving as snapshots for the Nashvilles of past and present. Some are funny, like a poltergeist who shifts your keys when you aren't looking. Some are truly scary. like a hook hanging from your date's car door. There are also a couple that leave you wistful, with a tear in your eye and a bit of a bruise on your heart. Not unlike Nashville's most famous product--country music. In fact, it's best to consider this book a sort of Juke Box for the Other Realms.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By txmere
Format:Paperback
I loved this book. I wanted to consume it all in one sitting, but I also wanted to spread out its consumption to make it last as long as possible. Mostly I read this in the daylight on my back patio and still ended up with lots of chillbumps.

My favorite aspect of this collection of stories is how each one is tied to a person or a place. It makes the story that much more concrete and it also makes one want to learn more. I dare you to read this and not run right out to research the Demonbreuns, for example. On the other hand, if you know a little bit about Nashville history, you might catch onto a few extra details here and there. You'll probably end up ruminating about several of the stories for days after, too.

Phillips does a wonderful job at painting a creepy picture and putting a reader right in the middle of it, but she also throws in just a bit of humor. The result is a scary, funny, heartwarming, and ultimately satisfying experience.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Unique March 20, 2011
By JMD
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"A City of Ghosts" isn't like anything else I've read. It isn't ghost stories that are fiction intended to scare you, like in the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" books I read years ago. The stories aren't stories in the sense of plot or characterization.

It's a guided tour of Nashville's haunted spot, and at each location, you discover its ghost and learn a bit of that ghost's tale.

At first, I found myself wishing the author had filled the tales in more, expanded them, answered all of the questions. By the time I finished the book, I was glad that she hadn't. Each tale is what it is; it felt like the tales were more true by not being embroidered or "enhanced". Her approach gives the tales a feel of authenticity.

I found myself carrying this book with me everywhere, because whenever I had a few free minutes, I could pop back into the book and enjoy more of the haunted spots in Nashville. It was a wonderful read.
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More About the Author

Betsy Phillips was born and raised in the Midwest, but she now lives in Whites Creek, Tennessee. She writes for the Nashville Scene's political blog "Pith in the Wind" as well as for her own blog, "Tiny Cat Pants." She spends her weekends in old cemeteries and believes her back yard may be haunted. Her stories have appeared in QARTTSILUNI and APEX Magazine.

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