Ghostly Voices: Thirteen Texas Ghosts

by Antoinette Azolakov

GHOSTLY THIRTEEN TEXAS GHOSTS is an unusual collection of ghost stories written as the ghosts themselves might tell them. Each unique character speaks of the events in life - and death - which have brought about the weird happenings we the living call hauntings. From the horror which guards the pirate Jean Lafitte's treasure near Sabine Lake to the mysterious light which haunts the Ghost Road between Saratoga and Bragg in the Big Thicket, from the perfume-wearing ghost in the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells to the silent woman rocking in her kitchen at old Fort Leaton by the Rio Grande, here are accounts of thirteen spirits and specters the tales of whose scary doings add goosebumps to Texas gatherings when the night is dark and the campfire burns low. But such fragments of stories leave us with unanswered questions. What really happened long ago that causes a brand new house in a brand new subdivision to seem haunted? How does an abandoned bridge in Bell County get a reputation for terrifying manifestations? Who haunts the Federal Courts Building in Houston? And what traumatic experience might have left such a mark on a girl's personality that she still appears, years later, as a phantom hitchhiker near White Rock Lake? The stories in this book are inspired by bits of ghost lore most people may have heard and perhaps wondered about. Unnerved by thoughts of the unknown and the unseen, left with only mystery, our imaginations take us to fearful places. But these Ghostly Voices are not meant to frighten. They simply tell us their tales, colorful bits of personal history that illuminate the inexplicable sightings, the creepy feelings, the cold spots and whispers and ghostly rappings that make up the rich fabric of Texas ghost lore. Thirteen memorable characters, and thirteen stories that are not too scary to read alone at night - until you start to think about them.

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2010

About the author

Antoinette Azolakov was born in Lufkin, Texas in 1944. Her father was in the U.S. Navy when she was born, and the Navy broke radio silence to tell him he had a baby girl. Antoinette has hardly been silent since. She taught high school English and Latin, worked in an explosives plant, as a welder, as a gas station attendant, as a landscape gardener and as a pet sitter. Her writing credits include several short stories and poems in various publications, four lesbian mysteries, and now her latest work, Ghostly Voices: Thirteen Texas Ghosts, available on Kindle. She is currently working on a new novel, Andrew Sparrow, set in early Texas. Her novel Skiptrace won the first Lambda Book Award for Best Lesbian Mystery. She lives with her ten cats and her Basset Hound in Austin, Texas.