Customer Reviews

Spooky New England: Tales of hauntings, strange happenings, and other local lore

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

 

 

The book was a good read. The stories move quickly and are well told. I especially enjoyed reading Mary's Flowers to the grand children. All the stories are presented in a realistic fashion and you are able to identify with the character's in the book. You end up asking yourself could this story really be true. The story entitled The White Deer seemed like it was talking about a real event involving real people. I enjoyed reading the book very much. Some of the stories can be read many times and seem to retain their freshness.

The ghost stories in this collection are spooky indeed! This book is a fast read, with great illustrations and stories that will keep you coming back again and again. My favorite stories are The Telltale Seaweed from Cape Cod, The Loup Garou from Rhode Island and At the Sign of the Sir Charles which has a trick ending!

Some of the stories are scary, some eerie, and some of them made me laugh. This book would be great to take camping -- the stories are perfect for reading around a campfire.

Hope we see more from this author.

Three thumbs up. What an excellent compilation of hair raising and mysterious stories! As autumn's crisp air begins to chill so will this page turner. This book couldn't have come out at a better time of the year. Great work.

It was wonderful to read these spine-tingling folktales from New England. The historical stories from the Colonial period were especially fascinating to me. The fear of being "witch-ridden" came up more than once (in The Witch-sheep and in Old Betty Booker). It appears to have been a very real terror for the New England folks once-upon-a-time.

My very favorite story was Tom Dunn's Dance, in which Tom changes from a wild young man to a model citizen, all because of a certain, terrifying experience one night on top of Rag Rock.

A very enjoyable collection.

This great short story collection made me sleep with the light on! My husband came home late one night while I was reading the Telltale Seaweed (the first story in the book), and when he slammed the front door I nearly jumped out of my skin! I was sure the ghost had arrived to get me!

The things I like best about this collection of spooky stories are that the stories are all based on the oral tradition from New England, that they are told phenomenally well (Books on Tape should record this collection; it just begs to be read out loud), and that many of the stories make you think: "That could really have happened".

I found these stories more insidiously spooky than some of the Stephen King novels, which are not too realistic. If you think suspense/thriller films vs. horror flicks, you get the picture.

Can't wait for the next book!

A collection of local folk lore, tall tales, scary stories, and ghost tales that has nothing on the magnificent, comprehensive, and brilliantly told collections by Joe Citro. Many of the stories I recognized from Citro's collections, where they were told with more mystery, mood, and better detail. I was checking out this book mainly for middle school students, but, though the reading level is low, it is too clumsy to hold their attention and the stories lack the scary mood and mystery that would interest them. Possibly a good book for high-level fifth or sixth grade students, but for few others. A decent local-version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, without the awesome sketches. Grade: C-

Spooky New England isn't your standard book of true accounts of ghostly encounters that you see so often today. Rather, as explained in the introduction, this is really a collection of myths, legends, and local folklore from various parts of the New England landscape. These are the tales that kids told each other around the bonfire at Summer camp and that locals regale tourists with as they visit their small towns. It's America's folklore that is fast fading from the memory of present day people. Thankfully this book helps keep alive these chilling tales from America's oldest and original settlements. New England has always been brimming with ghost stories, told by some of our greatest early writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving.

Retold by S.E. Schlosser, you'll read tales from the coast of Maine to Massachusetts and a more perfect book for entertaining guests for a Halloween party you couldn't hope to find. From Martha's Vineyard read about the mysterious Blue Rock where phantom pirates buried a secret treasure long ago. Then there is the ghost of Elvira Blood, wife of sea captain Sam Blood. While Sam drank and feasted with his buddies at the local pub, his poor wife and their children were left with watery soups until Mrs. Blood finally got wind of her husband's deeds. Even after she died, there would be no more feasts at the Mariners Club, as her ghost would tip over the table and spill the food all over the floor!

There is the tragic tale of the "Wraith in the Storm" about a young man who went out to sea just as terrible storms struck. His young sister then would see a spectral funeral march towards their house carrying a casket but it soon disappeared. Yet days later the family would receive word that their son's ship sank and there were no survivors. In other tales you'll read about The Devil's Hole, the Loup-Garou, and the Black Dog of Hanging Hills.

The stories are scary, but not too potent that young ones will need to hide under their beds. There's a great amount of charm in them as well and it's a wonderful collection of almost forgotten American folklore.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

The book sounded great but the stories are very lackluster; they lack the proper description to make the stories frightening. The stories take place in New England but the author fails to bring any local flavor to the stories; they could take place anywhere at all!

Plus, truth be told, the stories are not scary at all. A guy sees a dog and the next day he trips on a mountain. Wow, what goosebumps!!!

Finally the author fails to tell us how she gleaned the stories or provide any background.

The one star is for the moody drawings which are well done.