Customer Reviews

Haunted Lakes II: More Great Lakes Ghost Stories

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"Haunted Lakes II" is definitely one of the stranger additions to my collection of books about the Great Lakes. Some of the stories are obviously complete fiction, made up to pad this collection out to book-size. (Sometimes one of the problems with sequels is lack of material.) As the author puts it in his introduction, "Whether you choose to believe any of these tales is essentially immaterial."

Some of the stories are framed as eye-witness accounts, e.g. "The Lighthouse" which was supposedly given to the author by "a sailor of long experience." These tales tend to be cheerfully supernatural: "...we grabbed a couple of beers from the reefer and went ashore in the rubber dingy...[to investigate the haunted lighthouse]," and the author certainly seems to have his nautical terminology down pat. (Were sailing ships really called 'wind wagons'?)

Instead of a fog-bound hellpit of drowned sailors, the book reminds me of a nautically-themed carnival sideshow, where like the amazing mermaid with the stitched-on fish tail, the supernatural is stitched onto a bit of local history:

* Read about the general store that is haunted by the sound of squeaky bedsprings!

* Read about the St. Ignace Island Lighthouse of Doom!

* Read about the clock that was thrown into a swamp and reappeared in its familiar spot on the wall two days later!

* Read about the Crawling Ghost of Calvary Cemetery!

If you like your ghost stories funky, eccentric, and cheerful--rather like a Benny Hill episode with ghosts, "Haunted Lakes II" is a fun book to read.

This book is an okay book, and has it's fair share of interesting stories, such as Seul Choix Lighthouse, or Tawas Lighthouse. There are however, many dull ones, and many pointless ones, such as Stannard Rock. This is an enjoyable read, but not as enjoyable as its predecessor. Still, a good book, and I would recommend anyone who likes ghosts and hauntings stories to read this.

I'm not sure why but I felt that Haunted Lakes II turned out better than the first Haunted Lakes book. Mostly because the stories in this book dealt with more ghosts and hauntings than disappearing ships, superstitions, and sea monsters, which is what haunted lakes means to me. I can't believe just how many lighthouses have ghosts. Also there is even one story about a VAMPIRE!