Ghost Stories of the Old West

Ghost House Books

by Dan Asfar

The amazing era of American history known as the Old West has yielded ample material for tales of the supernatural. Battles between the U.S. Army and native tribes of the Great Plains and Southwest, the heartbreaking losses of early pioneers, wild outlaw days and the tough, lonely life of the western cowboy--all spawned their share of ghosts and unexplained occurrences. Tuck into this entertaining collection of tales of the paranormal drawn from our frontier past.

Genres: Paranormal, Nonfiction, Ghosts

216 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This anthology of alleged hauntings in the Wild West was enjoyably spooky as a whole, more so than some of the other books in the collection that I've read. Many of the stories contained within are unusual and suspenseful tales, and the storytelling itself is great. The author made his narrations engaging and personable, yet very informative. Reading it felt almost like listening to ghost stories around a campfire, except in text form. There are some genuinely creepy stories in this book; here are the ones I personally enjoyed the most:

-Legend of the Qu'Appelle River Valley
-Lost Tribe of the Rocky Mountains
-The 101 Ranch
-Dead Man in Barkerville
-The Dunn Building
-Ghost Riders of the Neches River(this twisted tale tells the ghostly legend behind the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky")
-Stampede Mesa
-Out of Nothing, In the Middle of Nowhere
-The Ghost of Catherine Sutler
-Easy Come, Easy Go
-The Legend of the Lost Lemon Mine

This absorbing collection of stories is sure to be a spooky diversion for both ghost story fans and Western enthusiasts!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful little collection of old west ghost tales. Asfar does a great job interpreting these tales for the book and the whole thing is extremely readable. A few hit close to my locale such as the origins of the "Qu'Appelle" region.

[Susan Jo Grassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love real ghost stories and to get so many in one book covering the Old West, from Kansas to California, Texas to Canada, was a real treat. Some I had read about before but many were all new. I'm going to have to check a couple of these out for myself.

[Sephy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for those interested in ghosts, whether a fan of the west or not.