Green Mountains, Dark Tales [Paperback]

Joseph A. Citro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

In this collection of tales, classic legends, and long-forgotten lore, best-selling compiler and investigator of the supernatural Joseph A. Citro takes us on a tour of every haunted corner of his native state. Combining the skills of a scrupulous researcher and masterful storyteller, Citro expands the terrain covered in his earlier books, venturing farther than ever before into the realms of the mysterious, the paranormal, and the just plain weird.

We tour a home designed by otherworldly architects, pass the night in haunted hotels, visit an antigravity spot, and search for demon-protected treasure.

We take a ride on Vermont's only ghost ship, visit tiny fairyland castles, and see a city in the sky. Then we try to determine who -- or what -- is buried in a mysterious grave in Cambridge.

We meet the last woman to be hanged in Vermont, explore the strange fate of a girl who heard the music of the spheres, and consider the bashful prophetess who saw God but was too shy to tell anyone.

Along the way we encounter villains and visionaries, misfits and monsters, in a state full of egotists, oddballs, and spiritual eccentrics. Skeptics and believers alike will delight in these strange but (maybe) true stories that can be read as regional history, folklore, or simply as entertainment. Guaranteed to amuse, tickle, and terrify!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A hybrid of journalism and legend, this wide-ranging, well-researched collection of Vermont folklore consists of 31 tall tales, peculiarities, stories of the supernatural and modern mysteries. Spanning from the early 1700s to contemporary times, the book is divided into three categoriesA"People," "Places" and "Things"Aall of which Citro, author of five suspense novels (The Unseen, etc.), classifies as Vermont's "dark tales." Straightforward, brief sketches feature such unique Vermont residents as James Johns, a newspaper publisher of the 19th century who put out his own hand-lettered, one-copy-only newspaper five days a week for over 40 years, or the "Queen of Cupidity," mean, niggardly Hetty Green, who "railroaded" her husband into a poorhouse yet died at age 81 worth over $100 million. Among the haunted places Citro covers are the University of Vermont, where ghosts have allegedly been sighted in 11 of the buildings; the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford, once a tuberculosis sanatorium that is now said to be haunted by one of its former nurses; and the Inn at Long Last in Chester and Manchester's grand Equinox Hotel, both hosts to ghosts, including one suspected of being Mary Todd Lincoln. Accounts of witches, mirages, eccentrics, monsters and mysterious creatures, such as Northfield's Pigman (a being with a man's body and a pig's face) are, like all the tales in this book, carefully detailed short pieces told in the same accessible, if at times bland, style. Some of the segments are engrossing, others patchy and incomplete; overall, Citro's rugged morsels make for quirky amusement.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Vermont is a region of enchantment for these several dark tales collected by Citro (Shadow Child, 1998, not reviewed) from every county in the state. The author declares his stories to be strange but mainly true, though theyre taken from older Vermont collections, archives, libraries, journals, periodicals, and newspapersand thus are recycled, or even paranormally refurbished, yet Citro tells us that many are seeing print for the first time. His first alone is enough to make you a doubter of the rest: in 1887, five elderly Vermonters, crippled and past the age of usefulness, were drugged, stripped naked, frozen for the winter in a big wooden box, then revived the following May and fed a hearty meal. Implied is the idea that their infirmities were somehow overcome. Retold also is the story of Hetty Green, wicked witch of Wall Street, who enjoyed destroying people and who, as a result of her obsession with money, became the richest woman in the world. Too tight to rent an office, Hetty worked out of a pile of crates and boxes on the floor of New York's Chemical and National Bank. Vermont also produced a great mental oddity in Truman H. Safford, who once correctly computed in his head a 15-digit number multiplied by itself. Citro narrates his own overnight stay in ``The Dickens Room''of the Inn of Long Last in his hometown; he was kept awake, he says, by what may have been the scraping of Marley's chains. Other tales concern digging for Captain Kidd's long-lost silver, and the Green Mountain States cryptozoological jungle provides for other curious encounters. Deserves an ad in National Enquirer, where there must be an audience waiting for it. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: UPNE; 1st edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584651342
• ISBN-13: 978-1584651345
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,291,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The latest in a wonderful series of Dark Tales, January 31, 2000

By 

Walkonair "walkonair" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Green Mountains, Dark Tales (Hardscrabble Books) (Hardcover)

Yet again, I have been enthralled, scared and drawn in by Mr. Citro's tales about my home state. He even covered my home-town ghost in this installment, which thrilled me to no end. He is truly one of our master storytellers, and I highly recommend all of his work.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For anyone who loves a good story, March 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Green Mountains, Dark Tales (Hardscrabble Books) (Hardcover)

In the tradition of old-time Yankee yarn-spinners, Citro delivers something that's all too rare nowadays--a darn good story. Dozens of them, in fact. I got so wrapped up in the tale called "The House of the Feasting Dead" that I nearly went past my subway stop. This is a hair-raising tour "dark" side of Vermont, a place populated by ghosts, mystics, spiritualists and even a "stone-throwing devil."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vermont's best story teller does it again, April 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Green Mountains, Dark Tales (Hardscrabble Books) (Hardcover)

Joseph Citro's collections of Vermont folklore have become as much a part of the Green Mountain State as sugaring and the Lake Champlain Monster. GREEN MOUNTAINS, DARK TALES continues this series of terrificly readable and enjoyable stories based on Vermont folklore and legend. Anyone who likes the state or just likes a good story would do well to pick up this book. It makes for addictive reading.