Yellowstone Ghost Stories: Spooky Tales From the World's First National Park

by Shellie Herzog Larios

Yellowstone National Park is haunted—or is it? You’ll think so after reading all the spooky tales in this book, including a little lost boy who appears and disappears among crowds of tourists, a headless bride at Old Faithful Inn, and various other ghostly spirits, mysterious sounds, and strange apparitions. This is a great book to read late at night around your campfire—if you dare!

Genres: Ghost Stories, Nonfiction, Horror, History, Short Stories

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Kortney Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

had fun reading this on our road trip and trying to find the ghosts while in yellowstone!!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pleasant, hardly spooky collection of stories from the first National Park. I love ghost stories and Yellowstone so the book was given to me a while back. It's more about the history of the park and how that intersects with the paranormal. I was never very scared by any of the stories (though I do have a strong stomach). I would say it's appropriate for children 8+, Lord knows I grew up on stuff like this. The writing definitely detracted from the storytelling at times. Not only was it florid and cliched, it was often riddled with typos and mistakes. Sometimes I had to stop and re-read a sentence to figure out what the author meant. That's not very unusual with a book that has such a small publication base but still...I was itching to get an editorial red pen out. Overall I would recommend it because the mistakes aren't too egregious and it's a light-hearted book.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the stories are good, and appear to be well-researched, I think a couple of maps pin-pointing the haunted places and cemeteries would have made it much better.
I bought this book while on a recent trip through Yellowstone, and spent a couple hours with a map, dotting the haunted places. We found Mattie's grave, but many of the rest of the places are described in vague terms.

The book _Death in Yellowstone_, while quite a bit more gory, does have more detail and maps.

[Spooky6irl · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

Interesting historical facts but it really didn’t have a lot of ghost/haunting aspects. There was also a bunch of grammatical/spelling errors but I still enjoyed it nonetheless

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought and read this book while visiting Yellowstone National Park. There isn't anything very creepy or scary about these ghost stories and it clearly wasn't the author's intent to do so; these are simple accounts of the parks supposed ghosts. However, some stories are interesting and the author sprinkles historical tidbits throughout.

[Janice Workman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like ghost stories and have always been fascinated with Yellowstone. Problem for me was that there were suggestions of things that could have been ghost stories, but...they weren't. There was interesting info about Yellowstone even without the ghosts - but I prefer to get what I am promised. Sure there are plenty who will really like it and also a good read for those who get nervous about things that really go. bump in the night

[Marilyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skip this book. It was obviously written for tourists visiting -- or wanting to visit -- Yellowstone. But there's not really any actual content to the slim volume. Most of the stories have a page or two of historical background, perhaps about a hotel, or the railroad, or a fort. Perhaps there's an explanation of what a poltergeist is. Or some brief biographical information about a person who visited or worked in the park. Then comes the "ghost" part. It's usually a few sentences about people sensing something strange or a few odd noises or a rustling of skirts or bushes. Ooooooh. Not spooky. Or even specific. The stories are filled with vague statements. "He must have known. . . . " "She likely visited. . . . " "They surely felt. . . ." There are a few exceptions. There's the story of Wahb, a grizzly bear. This florid account is taken from the writings of Ernest Thompson Seton, who wrote an entire biography of this bear, including his childhood, his feelings of dread as he grew old, his peaceful death. Too much. There's a ghost story which admittedly was constructed out of whole cloth by an inn manager who'd been asked many times for a ghost story. Not having a story, he simply made one up -- and the author of this book passes it along. One story begins, "Although there is no real historical documentation for this story. . . . " That one launches into a fanciful story as it might have been told by a Native American chief to his children.
There are also editing and grammar errors. "He laid down on the earth." "It suited him to a tea." "Her body had already been disposed." "He managed to confiscate the position of president." The author states that "most spectral identities remain a mystery to us all." Yellowstone ghosts may be a mystery, but you won't find out about them in this book.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

My husband picked this book up for me while he was in the park. Overall, it's good for some historical accounts of Yellowstone but I feel it lacks on the ghost part. The author gives the background info in about 2-3 pages than about a paragraph or two of the hauntings. There were a couple stories where I'm not even sure a haunting was discussed. If you want a book on some more unknown historical events of the park, this is a good starting place, but if you're looking for spooky stories to tell around your camp fire in the park, try something else.

[Peter Blomberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the style as much, but i think the author did what she intended to do with this...share some Yellowstone history while merging some legends of specters. I enjoyed the Vanishing Hitchhiker the most and the stories about Yellowstone Lake. Quite a few of the stories were history with a paragraph at the end saying something like, "maybe this person's voice is in the sound of the wind along those dusty shores". Or something similar.

[Cythera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wish I could rate this higher as the author seems truly passionate about this park and ghost stories. Unfortunately most of these were not ghost story’s.
About half the story’s felt like they were just about people that died and therefore could in theory be a ghost. And multiple of what are ghost stories are said by interviewed parties to be false in the book itself.
I don’t regret reading it though! It gave me new places to check out in Yellowstone next time I go!

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not usually read short stories in book form. I saw this and thought it would be interesting to read. The author did lots of research in Yellowstone and put them together into this book. You are bound to like reading this book and finding a favorite ghost story. I like the tale of Wahb (white bear) who was a grizzly bear. He is the first white grizzly, I have heard about. I found this book while looking for a Y book to finish my challenge.

[Becca (This book could have been shorter) · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a frequent visitor of Yellowstone, it was interesting to read about some of the history of hotels and travel and to recognize the landmarks that the author discusses.

However, this just seemed Iike a “fly by the seat of your pants” telling of ghost stories around the campfire and made up details and ambiguous endings, like “who knows.”

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not 'spooky' which is fine with me; I'm not a fan of ghost stories.

I picked this up because Lee Whittlesey wrote the foreword, so I assume that the historical aspects are correct.

needed: a map

[Kaitlyn Whitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75🌟

An interesting read, just not what I was expecting. More of a history-based book than a spooky-themed one. Reminded me more of a true crime tone even though it was formed around paranormal stories. Like I said, it was good, just not quite what I was looking for.

[Kelly Whitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiction interspersed with true stories, not much with actual ghostly content. A quick, easy read.

[Hanni · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very interesting book. Makes me want to go visit Yellowstone again.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book to read while camping in Yellowtone!

[Gianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't the worst thing ever, but there were only about 3 interesting stories. Also, it's Lake Superior that is known for never giving up her dead, not Lake Erie.

[Sara Planz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun quick ghost stories centering around the areas of Yellowstone National Park. Very entertaining!!

[Kristi Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not for me.

[Shelly Dabbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had some interesting stories but wish there was a visual of where these places were.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun compilation of ghost stories that make me want to revisit Yellowstone!

[Kayla Duford · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! Entertaining ghost stories about Yellowstone for national park nerds!

[Amelia Shives · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was invested. Definitely some spooky stories that are fun to read while traveling around Yellowstone

[Diane Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, entertaining book with history and legends thrown in! I enjoyed it.

[Natalie Wilson Liston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fun book about ghost stories in Yellowstone. There is a lot of history about the park which is interesting. One thing I didn't like about this book is that it is a little dry at times.

[Debbie Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing outstanding about this book. Some stories about Yellowstone. They weren't really spooky or scary but the book was a quick read and entertaining with it's short stories.

[Hailey Worth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Yellowstone Ghost Stories is about a majority of encounters of ghosts in Yellowstone. The author is Shellie Herzog Larios and the genre would mystery nonfiction. Yellowstone Ghost stories gives many stories of ghosts that people have seen, from the woman who was walking one night hitchhiking and a man named Marc Elliot stopped to pick her up but later he finds out she wasnt even a real human! Another story in this book is about a woman who was supposed to get married and she had gotten killed and people who stay in her room 127 said they sometimes see her and call her the headless bride. In my opionion this book is very intresting because you never actually would know that this stuff occurs in Yellowstone and I just think its nice knowing that these kind of things occur inside of either Old Faithful, The Lake Hotel or even around the park.
The theme in this book to inform you on the hidden things that eithre had occured or still do occur in Yellowstone that you would never expect, such as on page 70 "Eventually the brides missing head was found in the crows nest at the Old Faithful Inn". this informs you on the past events that had taken place, this book has both history and present events. In conculion I loved reading this book, it gives you the creeps thinking you had once stayed in one of these places, but yet it is also intresting. This book is for people who love the National Park and who love ghost stories.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I am planning a trip to Yellowstone for the first time I thought it prudent to brush up on some of the more colorful history of the park. In my recent crawl of the local bookstore I cam across this book. Filled with accounts of the paranormal, I am eager to see if I can find some of them myself. There is of course also the intention of having a few stories to over the evening fire. I would suggest this book if you are wanting a little back story for a summer hiking/camping trip.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having picked this up at Yellowstone, and having read it the day after I visited, I should have found this a lot more gripping, but the writing style is a little amateurish, and sometimes it is like you get the wrong details--where you want to know more there is nothing, but things that have no value are provided. Still, for this type of collection I think that is pretty normal.