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Haunted Hoosier Trails: A Guide to Indiana's Famous Folklore Spooky Sites by Wanda Lou Willis
Read this chilling collection of 78 ghost stories from throughout Indiana.When settlers first came to Indiana before 1800, the Miami, Delaware, and Potawatomi tribes who already inhabited the region had a long tradition of stories about tragic death and haunting spirits. Pioneers, the builders of Indiana canals, villagers, and city dwellers added their own tales of mansions where sad deaths occurred and where spirits walked, and of murderers and kidnappers whose foul crimes seemed to be punished from beyond the grave. These traditions have been passed on to us today, joined by modern folk tales that raise the hair on the head and startle the imagination.Journey to Hazelcot, the deserted dream mansion in Whitley County; to the forsaken and frightening tomb of riverboat captain Francis McHarry along the Ohio, where ships to this day toot out their homage to avoid the ghost’s curse; and to the bridges near Avon, Indiana, where who-knows-what will occur during Halloween. These carefully researched and truly frightening tales by Wanda Lou Wilis, one of Indiana’s most popular folklorists, will provoke and amuse even the most skeptical reader.Inside you’ll ghosts still walk the roads and trails of the Hoosier heartland? Find out for yourself with Haunted Hoosier Trails .
Paperback
First published March 1, 2002
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About the author
Wanda Lou Willis
6 books2 followersWanda Lou Willis is a folklore historian who specializes in Hoosier folktales and historic research. She is a feature writer for the Indianapolis Star’s “Seniority Counts” section and regularly appears on Fox 59 Early Morning show. She has taught folklore for many years at IUPUI and is a popular presenter at schools, universities, libraries and historical societies. She is a fifth generation Hoosier and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 8, 2022
My husband and I really liked this book! Although most of the stories were pretty mild on the spookiness-scale, we enjoyed hearing some local lore from our state! I loved how the stories were separated by county, and included a brief history of each county as well! So cool to learn more about our state and the history behind it!
June 1, 2011
I really liked the stories captured in this book, but my favorite part was that I was given a map at the end of each story... inviting me to visit the locations -I haven't, but the idea was nice
November 25, 2018
First published by Guild Press Emmis Publishing in 2002, Haunted Hoosier Trails: A Guide to Indiana’s Famous Folklore Spooky Sites by Wanda Lou Willis has quickly become a genre classic. Everything, from the paper it’s printed on, to its layout, maps, and illustrations, is of the highest quality. It is (to put it bluntly) a beautiful book, but it is the stories within that are most important.
Willis does a wonderful job retelling ghost stories and legends from all over the Hoosier State. Like the rest of the book, the quality of writing is superb–clean, and polished. The only things this book lacks are proper citations and an index. Otherwise, it should be the standard that authors in this genre seek to emulate.
The tales in Haunted Hoosier Trails are organized by region and county. Willis divides Indiana into three regions: North, Central, and South. A short history introduces each county, and each location or story is given one or two pages–just enough to explain the background and strange happenings without losing the reader’s interest. In fact, an incredible 78 tales are featured in this 180 page book, but none of them feel rushed or incomplete.
A map pinpointing their exact location accompanies many of the tales. Unlike the poor quality maps featured in other books in this genre, the maps included in Haunted Hoosier Trails are clean and easy to read. They were created by the book’s illustrator, Steven D. Armour. Armour’s ink sketches are a wonderful addition to the book and come at the beginning of each section. They illustrate a handful of that region’s most notable stories.
Aside from its regrettable subtitle, one of the main shortcomings of Haunted Hoosier Trails is its lack of sources or citations. This absence is all the more surprising because of the academic credentials of its author. According to her bio, Wanda Lou Willis is a notable folklorist who has received recognition from National Geographic Magazine and the Smithsonian Institution.
She acknowledges many individuals who supplied information about local ghost stories, but fails to cite exactly what documents, books, or articles the information came from. This is important because other researchers need to be able to verify the stories and trance their origins with some degree of accuracy. Willis does not even provide a basic bibliography. It’s an omission that harms an otherwise outstanding book.
The other thing this book lacks is an index. It is very difficult to find a specific story or location, since each story is given a generic title. For example, readers familiar with “Stangle Bridge,” but not its folk-name, “Purple Head Bridge,” would not be able to find it without a time-consuming search through the text. One story, titled “The Point of Death,” is about Mooresville Bridge, but you would never know that looking at the table of contents. It would be helpful to be able to look up Mooresville Bridge in an index.
Despite these limitations, Haunted Hoosier Trails remains one of the finest examples of a collection of folklore and ghost stories to come out in the past fifteen years. Written just prior to the latest explosion of interest in ghost stories and the paranormal, this book retains the folksy, historic quality that a lot of the more recent books in this genre lack. Whether you are studying the folklore of Indiana, or just looking for a few interesting stories to read, Haunted Hoosier Trails should be at the top of your list.
Willis does a wonderful job retelling ghost stories and legends from all over the Hoosier State. Like the rest of the book, the quality of writing is superb–clean, and polished. The only things this book lacks are proper citations and an index. Otherwise, it should be the standard that authors in this genre seek to emulate.
The tales in Haunted Hoosier Trails are organized by region and county. Willis divides Indiana into three regions: North, Central, and South. A short history introduces each county, and each location or story is given one or two pages–just enough to explain the background and strange happenings without losing the reader’s interest. In fact, an incredible 78 tales are featured in this 180 page book, but none of them feel rushed or incomplete.
A map pinpointing their exact location accompanies many of the tales. Unlike the poor quality maps featured in other books in this genre, the maps included in Haunted Hoosier Trails are clean and easy to read. They were created by the book’s illustrator, Steven D. Armour. Armour’s ink sketches are a wonderful addition to the book and come at the beginning of each section. They illustrate a handful of that region’s most notable stories.
Aside from its regrettable subtitle, one of the main shortcomings of Haunted Hoosier Trails is its lack of sources or citations. This absence is all the more surprising because of the academic credentials of its author. According to her bio, Wanda Lou Willis is a notable folklorist who has received recognition from National Geographic Magazine and the Smithsonian Institution.
She acknowledges many individuals who supplied information about local ghost stories, but fails to cite exactly what documents, books, or articles the information came from. This is important because other researchers need to be able to verify the stories and trance their origins with some degree of accuracy. Willis does not even provide a basic bibliography. It’s an omission that harms an otherwise outstanding book.
The other thing this book lacks is an index. It is very difficult to find a specific story or location, since each story is given a generic title. For example, readers familiar with “Stangle Bridge,” but not its folk-name, “Purple Head Bridge,” would not be able to find it without a time-consuming search through the text. One story, titled “The Point of Death,” is about Mooresville Bridge, but you would never know that looking at the table of contents. It would be helpful to be able to look up Mooresville Bridge in an index.
Despite these limitations, Haunted Hoosier Trails remains one of the finest examples of a collection of folklore and ghost stories to come out in the past fifteen years. Written just prior to the latest explosion of interest in ghost stories and the paranormal, this book retains the folksy, historic quality that a lot of the more recent books in this genre lack. Whether you are studying the folklore of Indiana, or just looking for a few interesting stories to read, Haunted Hoosier Trails should be at the top of your list.
October 30, 2018
***3.5***
I really enjoyed getting to read these little ghostly snippets from various IN counties, especially the ones from the counties I live/have lived in.
I really enjoyed getting to read these little ghostly snippets from various IN counties, especially the ones from the counties I live/have lived in.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews