Books Blog : ghost stories

Hoosier Ghosts

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:42:00 GMT

Perhaps you'd like to read about reported hauntings right here in Indiana as Halloween approaches. Even if you don't believe in ghosts, these books can be entertaining and spooky reads perfect for the season.

Haunted Travels of Indiana by Mark Marimen

Encyclopedia of Haunted Indiana by Nicole R. Kobrowski

Haunted Indiana and Haunted Indiana 2, 3 and 4 by Mark Mariman

Haunted Hoosier Trails and More Haunted Hoosier Trails by Wanda Lou Willis

Haunted Backroads: Central Indiana: and Other Stories by Nicole R. Kobrowski

Ghost Hunter's Guide to Indianapolis by Lorri Sankowsky

Haunted Indianapolis: And Other Indiana Ghost Stories by Tom Baker & Jonathan Titchenal

It's time for a ghost story...

bookchick@evpl — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:18:00 GMT

Do you remember reading ghost stories as a kid? That shivery feeling you got up and down your spine, the hair standing up on the back of your next and the feeling of being watched? Douglas Clegg brings back the traditional ghost story in a small volume entitled Isis.

Iris and her brother Henry are as close as two siblings can be. They entertain and protect each other, and call each other Isis and Osiris while their Father is off fighting a foreign war and their Mother deals, rather unsuccessfully, with his absence. There is also a twin to Henry named Spencer, who is as cruel as Henry is kind. While living in their Grandfather's bleak house Iris discovers a secret hidden among her Grandfather's books. This secret leads Iris and Henry down the path of the Occult with some unexpected and terrifying results.

You'll read it in one sitting and probably want to leave the lights on.

Finding a Favorite Author again

kiya@evpl — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:36:00 GMT

Many years ago, I discovered the wonderful novels of Barbara Rogan, and quickly read all that she had written. Each was different from the others, but all were well-written. I loved A Heartbeat Away so much that I chose it for a book discussion title many many years ago. It is still my favorite romantic ghost story. When I realized it was going out of print, I bought several paperback copies, and have now given away all but my last copy. I reread it again recently, and found that I love it still. Crow, Elias, Alice, Pilar and Dr. Graystone are unforgettable characters. There was a tiny part of me that was surprised to find them just as I had left them - they seemed real enough to have gone on with their lives after I closed the book...

After finishing A Heartbeat Away, I checked to see if Rogan had anything new since I had last looked - she is not on a book a year pace like some authors, and it is easy to lose track of her titles. I found one I hadn't read, and saw on her website that another one is almost ready to be published, so I have new treats to anticipate. Why don't you give her books a try?

Barbara Rogan's website

Lucky "Thirteenth"

myzticrhythmz@evpl — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:59:00 GMT

I'll admit when it comes to literature, I am something of a late bloomer. It took a book group assignment last year for me to finally read Jane Eyre, and of course, I fell in love with it. Recently I followed some friends' recommendations of a book that's reminiscent of that classic novel.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is a dark, Jane-Eyre-on-a-roller-coaster kind of book. In the story, renowned English author Vida Winter is dying, and has called upon a bookseller's daughter and sometime-biographer, Margaret Lea, to write Winter's life story. What follows is a well-paced, very Gothic, sometimes creepy tale, replete with twins, ghosts, a governess, mistaken identities, and a bit of madness thrown in for good measure. Though parts of the ending seemed a bit contrived, there were still enough surprises to be satisfying.

If you haven't tried The Thirteenth Tale yet, by all means do so--and let us know what you think!