Ghosts & Haunted Places, Peoples & Cultural Interests - Travel Guides, Trivia

Historic Haunted America

Name: Historic Haunted America
Author: Michael Norman
ISBN: 9780812564365

by Michael Norman, Beth Scott

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Overview

"Historic Haunted America" is an engrossing investigation into North American ghost legends, a comprehensive compendium documenting yesterday and today's most shocking hauntings in the United States. The authors tell stories of the past and present so terrifyingly real that even the most skeptical reader will believe.

Continuing the success of the nationally-acclaimed Haunted America and Haunted Heartland, Norman and Scott offer a further investigation into North American ghost legend, a comprehensive compendium documenting yesterday and today's most shocking hauntings in the U.S. and Canada.

Synopsis

Historic Haunted America is an engrossing investigation into North American ghost legends, a comprehensive documenting yesterday and today's most shocking hauntings in the United States and Canada.

From the ghost-ridden forts in Old Tucson to the "Inn of the 17 Ghosts" near Philadelphia, from the haunted plantations of Louisiana and Georgia to a haunted community playhouse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Michael Norman and Beth Scott tell stories of the past and present so terrifyingly real that even the most skeptical reader will believe.

Library Journal

Perfect Halloween reading, this fourth and final companion volume (to Haunted Wisconsin, Stanton & Lee, 1980; Haunted Heartland, Stanton & Lee, 1985; and Haunted America, LJ 11/1/94) is the culmination of 18 years of research and journalistic collaboration by the authors. Having traversed the United States and Canada to garner eyewitness accounts of ghostly sightings and habitats, the authors present yet another all-new assortment of earthly visitations by restless spirits of bygone eras residing in such common locales as homes, theaters, plantations, open fields, schools, and railroad cars. Be they old generals, soldiers, nursemaids, children, lovers, moonshiners, former employees, mental patients, murder victims, former residents, or servants, each has a tale to tell, things to do, people to guard, and places to watch over. Although some tales seem plausible, others are more difficult to believe, and still others too haunting to be real, all have been thoroughly researched; none is the result of the authors' overactive imaginations. Mesmerizing, spine-tingling-and not to be missed by any folklore collection.-Ann E. Cohen, Rochester P.L., N.Y.

About the Author, Michael Norman

MICHAEL NORMAN, a former reporter for The New York Times, teaches narrative journalism at New York University.

ELIZABETH M. NORMAN, the author of two books about war, teaches at New York University s Steinhardt School of Education.

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Editorials

Library Journal

Perfect Halloween reading, this fourth and final companion volume to Haunted Wisconsin, Stanton & Lee, 1980; Haunted Heartland, Stanton & Lee, 1985; and Haunted America, LJ 11/1/94 is the culmination of 18 years of research and journalistic collaboration by the authors. Having traversed the United States and Canada to garner eyewitness accounts of ghostly sightings and habitats, the authors present yet another all-new assortment of earthly visitations by restless spirits of bygone eras residing in such common locales as homes, theaters, plantations, open fields, schools, and railroad cars. Be they old generals, soldiers, nursemaids, children, lovers, moonshiners, former employees, mental patients, murder victims, former residents, or servants, each has a tale to tell, things to do, people to guard, and places to watch over. Although some tales seem plausible, others are more difficult to believe, and still others too haunting to be real, all have been thoroughly researched; none is the result of the authors' overactive imaginations. Mesmerizing, spine-tingling-and not to be missed by any folklore collection.-Ann E. Cohen, Rochester P.L., N.Y.

Joe Collins

It may take a while for your spine to tingle when you first tackle this enormous volume of good, old-fashioned ghost stories, but eventually the chill sets in. Of course, it's hit-and-miss, with some stories a lot scarier than others. All 50 states and some Canadian provinces offer at least one spooky yarn, if not more. Norman and Scott spent 18 years collecting tales, ranging from the typical with rattling chains, moans, cold spots, and the like to the elaborate the spectral marching soldiers of Indiana's Battle of Tippecanoe, a haunted mine, and the infamous Inn of Seventeen Ghosts in Pennsylvania, for instance. Occasionally scary but consistently enjoyable.