Haunted Lakes: Great Lakes Ghost Stories, Superstitions and Sea Serpents [Paperback]

Frederick Stonehouse (Author), Hugh E. Bishop (Editor), Paul L. Hayden (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Lake Superior Port Cities; 1st edition (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942235304
• ISBN-13: 978-0942235302
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book for any fan of the Great Lakes Region., March 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Haunted Lakes: Great Lakes Ghost Stories, Superstitions and Sea Serpents (Paperback)

This book is an amazing array of compiled stories which tell the eerie history of the Great Lakes. More than just a list of ghost stories, it gives us an insight into those who spent their lives (and often risked them) on the ships that have plied the lakes over the years. The story of the Hudson in particular is not one to be read before bedtime; it leaves one wondering just who or what controls the forces of the lakes, and how and why a calm great lake can instantaneously turn into a raging torrent. Stonehouse should be congratulated on the background research and variety of stories that go into the text. All in all, a very satisfying read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful beach book!, July 3, 2000

By 

kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haunted Lakes: Great Lakes Ghost Stories, Superstitions and Sea Serpents (Paperback)

Since the days when the fear-producing words "Here be Dragons" were inscribed on ancient maps, the lure of the invisible has drawn men to the water with their ships. The Great Lakes, seven of them if you include Lake Champlain, along the New York-Vermont border, (and Lake St. Clair, between Lakes Huron and Erie) are no strangers to the unseen.

Frederick Stonehouse, a noted scholar and author of thirteen prior books about the Great Lakes and their maritime history, encountered tales of the paranormal throughout his years of research. Nonplussed by them, he tucked them away. In his preface, he confesses to 'not knowing exactly what to do with these stories'. Eventually, however, there were so many of them, he began to look at them with a different eye. He found that they assumed credibility because the people who told the tales believed so strongly in them. Beginning with the Gibralter Point Light on Lake Ontario in Toronto, one of the oldest lighthouses on the Lakes, right up to yesterday, when the author himself experienced -- something -- you'll be fascinated with this book, and its many illustrations, glossary, bibliography, index, and the thoroughly enjoyable appendix.

Tales such as the captain who continued to be a part of the crew on his beloved ship, and who saved it from certain disaster, to the list of boats carrying the same name -- Ontario, or a variant thereof -- all of whom went down in a five day span in October, 1874. Superstitions abound -- a Friday departure spelled certain disaster, for instance, as did cats, blasphemy, whistling, or women on board. It must be stated, however, that many of the disasters cited here occurred during the 1800s and early 1900s, primarily in the days of wooden ships.

However, steel hulls and electronics cannot guarantee safe journeys, either, as in the case of the Edmund Fitzgerald. During the launch, several events happened which, one hundred years earlier, would have labelled the ship a certain jinx. Modern science has pretty much put that idea to rest, and in recent years, divers and scientists have come up with possible scenarios to explain the sudden disappearance of the ore-hauler in the storm of November 10, 1975. What they can't explain however, are the oddities surrounding succeeding events, all involved to some degree with the Fitzgerald. For instance, the wardroom bell falling off the wall of the Canadian submarine tender, Cormorant, the ship sent to rescue the Fitzgerald's bell and bring it to the surface, where it is to be part of a memorial to the sunken ship and her crew, all of whom went down with her. The Cormorant's captain said, "It's never fallen before, and we've been through 30-foot seas with it!" Haunted lighthouses, superstitions, ghost ships, ship board and underwater ghosts, lakeside spirits, sea serpents and other creatures, and messages from beyond are the sections of the book. The oldest ghost ship is the Griffon, from 1679, and the Sieur de La Salle, which left Green Bay on September18 of that year bound for Niagara, and was never heard from again. The old-timers call this sailing off 'into a crack in the lake', and literally hundreds of ships have taken such a voyage in the years since the Griffon. Haunted Lakes is an enjoyable look at a variety of unexplained, miscellaneous phenomena, such as ghosts (of ships and other creatures, including lighthouses); sea serpents and other mostly unseen things. It's a fascinating look at the ever-present subject of ghoulies and ghosties and other things that go bump -- or splash -- in the night. There's even a ghost horse! True. Louie by name, the poor creature was abandoned on what was then called Yeo Island in Georgian Bay, after being shipwrecked in 1828. His owner promised to rescue him, but for a multitude of reasons, didn't. So many mariners told of seeing the ghostly white horse, still waiting patiently, the island eventually became known as Horse Island.

This is not the scariest book you'll ever read, but on a cold, dark and windy night, when you're all alone -- perhaps another book would be a wiser choice. This one is a dandy companion for a nice, bright sunny day -- preferably beside a calm, peaceful lake.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read with No Pretensions of Academic Scholarship, March 14, 2005

By 

Air Force Member (Fort McPherson, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haunted Lakes: Great Lakes Ghost Stories, Superstitions and Sea Serpents (Paperback)

Stonehouse provides a fun book that delivers what it promises: legendary tales and ghost stories centered around the Great Lakes. Stonehouse doesn't attempt to prove or debunk any of these stories, and nor should he. He's just trying to put on the record some of the tales that make the rounds. This is a good collection and each story is told well. The Great Lakes are imposing and mysterious at times, which this book captures.