Customer Reviews

More Chicago Haunts: Scenes From Myth and Memory

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bielski responds to hungry readers' continuing craving for otherworldly weirdness by reviewing her files for stories she sifted out of both of her previous Chicago-focused titles (CHICAGO HAUNTS editions 1 & 2). As the subtitle indicates, these stories delineate a fascinating expanse of human consciousness that lies somewhere between subjective experience and synthesizing belief.

Bielski's talent for placing myth in the context of its culture, time, and place without dissecting the thrill out of it makes her work an illuminating, entertaining ride through Chicago history from the delightfully skewed angle of enduring energies that go way beyond the city's "I Will" ethic. Her sense of humor infuses her open-minded investigator's rationality with a kind of hip campfire storyteller's glee. Don't miss the unique legacies Bielski unearths here and throughout her addictively haunting volumes.

I just loved Ms. Bielski's other two books, so I was excited to find a follow-up to Chicago Haunts. As a local, I really enjoy hearing the ghostly lore of places I know, and Ms. Bielski does not disappoint! This book has some great little (and not-so-little) legends. I grew up right by the farmland that later became the Kraft Foods complex and I always wondered about that little cemetary smack in the middle of it! Now I know! (Now if I could just find out about that lone headstone that used to be on the north side of Willow Road just west of Shermer Road before it was a subdivision...) Anyway, If you like to read about the strange little haunted history of backyard Chicago, this is definetly for you! It is right on track with Ms. Bielski's other great two books.

Now this book is MUCH better then the first. It has more first hand accounts then the first book in this series. Its great cause the author give both history AND when possible first hand accounts! A must read!

Author Ursula Bieslski provides an excellent sequel to her first book of ghostly tales. Told through historical facts and by eye witness accounts, this book is worthy follow-up. Highly Recommended! Perfect for Halloween or any ghost-hunting time of the year.

I was a bit disappointed that Ursula doesn't run all her own tours when I took one, but the guide was entertaining. This book covers a lot of the stories I heard there, and her writing is really very good. Entertaining, at the very least, and sometimes really creepy.

After the mistakes in the first one, do not trust anything. Verify address and location information. The first book was not edited properly or self-published without being edited. I would be careful with the facts in this one too.

This follow-up book to the incredible "Chicago Haunts" is equally as impressive and hard to put down.
While most "sequel" books are obviously comprised of filler material and rushed to press to capitalize on an earlier success, it is evident that this book was painstakingly researched. It is beautifully done. Bielski doesn't just recount ghost stories; she weaves in sympathy, historical fact, and sometimes humor to present artfully written short stories. Her hard work does not go unnoticed in this book. If you love Chicago history, ghost stories, or just good reading, this is a book for you.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion concerning what they read. Amazon.com graciously allows these opinions to be viewed online. The joke that concludes the first book is mocking and demeaning and was meant to be such! The only " believing " found in this author's books are of her own theories and write-off explanations. However many aspects that the author uses to examine the parapsychology of the great city of Chicago....her conclusions are only within the closed minded framework of folklore and myth. People who have had paranormal experiences in their lives do not share that view.

In response to "booklover": The joke that ends Chicago Haunts is just that...a joke--and a very mild and inconsequential one, too! The playfulness represented in Bielski's finale is but one feature of her multi-faceted approach to presenting ghostly legends and supernatural experiences. In being academic, popular, serious, good-humored, respectful, appreciative, believing, and skeptical, Bielski is true to herself and the material, and engaging as a writer, purposely allowing readers to ultimately decide what they believe for themselves.

--Sharon Woodhouse, publisher, Lake Claremont Press

It was an interesting book, however, not as captivating as the first.