Spooks of the Valley: Ghost Stories for Boys & Girls

by Louis C. Jones

Book by Jones, Louis C.

111 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really SPOOOOOKY! No, not really. It was interesting to read about ghost stories from local places though. I liked how the ghost stories were all linked by the strange adventure of two boys.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books growing up. I lived in upstate New York then and many of the places, including Ticonderoga and Kinderhook, were familiar to me. Louis C. Jones, who was a historian specializing in folk tales and director of the New York State Historical Association for 25 years, created a novel for young people incorporating a score of ghost stories from that part of the state. The hook was that it was told to two twelve-year-old boys who helped George, a ghost who couldn’t rest until his body was dug up from under a woodpile where it was thrown after he was killed and reburied properly. They do that and then are invited to a gathering of other uneasy ghosts, all of whom can’t rest because of something connected with their deaths. They hear many stories and are able to help two other ghosts as well. One time while visiting family I found a copy in a used book store, autographed by both Jones and illustrator Erwin C. Austin.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very satisfying book of Hudson Valley folktales within a plot about two boys who help a restless ghost and hope to find Captain Kidd’s treasure.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite ghost story books when I was a kid. The stories are supposed to be based on central New York State history, but Jones, a historian from Cooperstown, NY, has woven them into a single narrative, told to 2 boys by a ghost. LOVE IT!