Trespassing Time: Ghost Stories from the Prairie (Paperback)

~ Barbara J. Baldwin (Author) "You don't believe the ghost guidebook about Lutsville, do you?" asked Ashley in that way she had of making you feel like an idiot because..." (more)
Key Phrases: Grandpa George, Padre Niza, Charles Lindbergh (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...just enough of an element of terror mixed with "ah gee" moments to appeal to a wide body of readers." -- Bob Spear, Heartland Reviews, April-June 2005

"...just enough of an element of terror mixed with “ah gee” moments to appeal to a wide body of readers." --Bob Spear, Heartland Reviews, April-June 2005

Fans of this genre should enjoy this varied collection. There’s a little something in it for everyone’s taste. -- Robin Farrell Edmunds, ForeWord Magazine, September 2005

Haunted churches, dastardly artwork, desperate spirits, spooky cemeteries, a dead cat and other eerie characters ... Order it now... -- Kansas Libraries, July 2005, Review by Roy Bird

I became so immersed in this superb collection ... I couldn’t put it down until I’d turned the final page. -- Tanzy Cutter, Fresh Fiction, June 2005

I was hooked from the moment I first opened this book. ... I couldn't put it down. -- Tamra Dickey, Roundtable Reviews

If you are looking for something scary and entertaining, this is the ghost story collection for you. ... Highly recommended. -- Lee Prosser, GhostVillage.com, August 2005

a wide variety ... stories set in various times and places and all with very different horrific effects. -- June Pulliam, Necropsy, August 2, 2005

Product Description

On the lonely trails of the windswept plains, desperate spirits wander across time burdened with the raw emotion of their unsettled lives. Does the fog creeping up from the river bring vengeful ghosts seeking to settle an old score? Are the fleeting shadows you see from the corner of your eye leading you to the horrors of the restless dead? Introduced by Troy Taylor, founder of the American Ghost Society, these sixteen compelling and spooky stories of love, legends and evil will challenge your sense of reality. Is the deserted church really the Gates of Hell? Can a murdered cat save a young woman's life? Will the friendship of two small children surmount even death? How far will a long-dead mother go to get back a precious charm bracelet? What is the prairie spirit that demands a terrible price from those who break the sod? From a wind-tossed lake to a lonely abandoned cemetery; from a stone mansion to a barnstormer's plane, eerie specters await you as you dare to trespass time.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ravenstone Press (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965971260
• ISBN-13: 978-0965971263
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,008,699 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Scary Ghost Stories From The Plains, August 15, 2005

By	Elizabeth Delisi "www.elizabethdelisi.com" (New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews

Everyone has fond memories of ghost stories, perhaps told around a campfire, or at a Halloween party. Children love to shiver with fright, knowing full well they're safe and sound and the ghosts can't *really* get them. But they grow up and discard the ghost stories and spooky tales as childish things best forgotten.

Well, get ready to shiver again. TRESPASSING TIME: GHOST STORIES FROM THE PRAIRIE is a series of ghost stories set in the plains of the Midwest, and believe me, these stories are anything but childlike. Barbara Baldwin, Jerri Garretson, Linda Madl and Sheri McGathy, four very talented authors, will have you looking over your shoulder, jumping at noises, and wondering how an abandoned schoolhouse on the prairie or a rented cottage in a tiny town can be the cause of so much terror.

The collection opens with "Christmas at the Gates of Hell" by Linda Madl which, despite its title, is a gentle, nostalgic tale of holidays on the plains. Two college girls find themselves stranded in a desolate school during a snowstorm, and like Ebenezer Scrooge, are able to witness the joy of Christmas past.

The fear is amped up a notch in Jerri Garretson's story, "Griselda." A woman begins to fear she married in haste when her new husband carries her across the threshold in a charming cottage in the middle of nowhere...and won't let her leave. And who is the ghostly face she sees looking out of an upstairs window or peeking around a doorway?

Barbara Baldwin's tale, "Deja Vu," is a plaintive tale of two small children in a coma after a bus accident...children who had always been best friends. Hand in hand, they wander through their small town alone, wondering why no one sees or hears them. Then, they hear voices calling them back...but what will happen when only one returns?

"Forgotten, But Not Gone," by Sheri McGathy, is perhaps the most frightening tale in the collection. Chloe and her boyfriend Matt find an old charm bracelet when exploring an ancient cemetery next to their high school. Chloe feels an instant affinity for the bracelet, yet she can't shake the feeling that the pale, bedraggled, mud-streaked woman she sees in her dreams and waking hours wants something from her...something Chloe doesn't want to give.

If you're looking for scary, well-written ghost stories set in an unusual, fresh location, look no further. TRESPASSING TIME: GHOST STORIES FROM THE PRAIRIE will have you sleeping with the light on for weeks! Don't say I didn't warn you.

Reviewed by: Elizabeth Delisi for Word Museum, (...)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy Haunting, January 18, 2006

By	Fantasy Novel Review "FNR" - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Sherryl King-Wilds for www.fantasynovelreview.com

"Christmas at the Gates of Hell" by Linda Madl: Two girls are stranded in the dark at a haunted, old schoolhouse.

"Dance with Me" by Jerri Garretson: A brutal entity surviving in a portrait wants one last dance.

* "Griselda" by Jerri Garretson: A ghost cat reveals the gruesome secrets of a quaint house in the country.

"Déjà Vu" by Barbara J. Baldwin: The spirits of two injured children hang between life and death; only one will survive.

* "Forgotten, But Not Gone" by Sheri L. McGathy: An odd charm bracelet found in a cemetery comes with an angry spirit and much more than the finder bargained for. Bone chiller!

"Maxie" by Sheri L. McGathy: Maxie the dog is back from the dead and she is not alone.

"The Graveyard Dance" by Sheri L. McGathy: A man's visit to his childhood town brings out more than playful memories.

"The Rose" by Barbara J. Baldwin: A father/husband passes on but remains a caregiver, his memory living on in the blooming of one beautiful rose.

"Trespassing Time" by Linda Madl: An elderly gentleman reveals the mystical truth behind the Seven Cities of Cibola, the cities of gold.

* "Whisper on the Wind" by Barbara J. Baldwin: A troubled young man gets a new foster family; he also meets the family ghost, a barnstorming pilot.

"Fireball Faye" by Jerri Garretson: Faye dies in a fire and heats up the town with her deadly reappearance.

"What's a Ghost to Do?" by Sheri L. McGathy: The society of ghosts is in an uproar of comic proportions; they are under attack from a strange and invasive enemy.

* "One Night at Whistling Woman Creek" by Linda Madl: People disappear as the spirit of the prairie exacts a horrific price for the use of its lands. Bone chiller!

"Dreams of the Dead" by Barbara J. Baldwin: The dead have gotten in and are ostensibly driving a woman to madness.

"Lost in the Fog" by Jerri Garretson: A wife and husband buy a cheap though lovely home; they soon find out why the price was so low but far too late.

"Halloween at the Gates of Hell" by Linda Madl: Evil arises to possess the living.

All these stories come very well constructed with ghosties, ghoulies, and haunting aftereffects. Trespassing Time would be perfect for reading on a dark night around the campfire or on a candle-lit night at home without electricity.

The asterisks above show my favorites by each author; these stories all touched a note of compassion within me. The words bone chiller follow the stories "Forgotten, But Not Gone" by Sheri L. McGathy and "One Night at Whistling Woman Creek" by Linda Madl. These two stories scared the living hell out of me, instilling a fear I will not soon forget. Perhaps I should not advise reading either of these tales in darkness of any kind! But I do!

Trespassing Time also brings up the question "Do ghosts really exist?" The answer to that question is best left to each individual's experience or innate beliefs. As for me, I think they are out there. I just hope to never find any of the ghosts produced by the imaginations of the ladies who created this book.

Happy haunting, ladies!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From light and funny to creepy and mysterious - something for all, November 19, 2005

By	Jennette Marie Powell (Ohio) - See all my reviews

If you're looking for something different, check out Trespassing Time. This collection of sixteen ghost stories has a little bit of everything. Set in the American plains, these stories include historicals that evoke the yearning for open spaces to settle, start a new life and call one's own. In contemporary stories, people both young and old question beliefs they've always held and their own perceptions of self. The stories range from the funny "What's a Ghost to Do" that explores the lighter side of today's technology's ramifications on the spirit world, to the chilling "One Night at Whistling Woman Creek" and "Lost in the Fog" that will make you check your locks, to the bittersweet "Déjà vu" and "Maxie" and the heartwarming "Whisper on the Wind." These stories aren't just for Halloween. The book opens with a holiday story in which two college coeds learn something about one's hometown and about themselves. "Dance with Me" and "Griselda" are eerie mysteries that will take you on a suspenseful ride along with their heroines until the end.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, Trespassing Time is an entertaining read that will take you away for hours, or for short whiles here and there - and will make you ponder your own beliefs.