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Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book
Houses of evil, child ghosts, poltergeists, it's all here in Canadian Hauntings, an amazing collection of unexplainable encounters from across Canada. And they're all true! These stories of the past and present are so terrifyingly real that even the most skeptical reader will believe. From the haunted art gallery in Burnaby, B.C. to mysteries in the Maritimes, this is a grand tour of ghostly goings-on that will captivate readers of all ages.
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Michael Norman
18 books50 followersMichael Norman is a writer who makes his home in Western Wisconsin.
He is the author most recently of "The Nearly Departed: Minnesota Ghost Stories and Legends," published in 2009 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
He is the co-author with the late Beth Scott of the popular Haunted America series of ghost stories, and the co-author with writer Carol Roecklein of two vocabulary books written for ages 12 and up.
He is the author most recently of "The Nearly Departed: Minnesota Ghost Stories and Legends," published in 2009 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
He is the co-author with the late Beth Scott of the popular Haunted America series of ghost stories, and the co-author with writer Carol Roecklein of two vocabulary books written for ages 12 and up.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 21, 2024
Houses and sometimes even furniture that are dangerous, cursed and devilish, alongside of diverse ghosts and poltergeists, Michael Norman shows in Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book an on the surface decent enough and varied collection of unexplainable, of paranormal "true" encounters and scenarios (of ghost stories) from across Canada (west to east, north to south, but with a large majority collected from British Columbia and Quebec)
And yes, I also do very much appreciate (and am intellectually pleased) that Norman has included a detailed and extensive bibliography in Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book (which titles I will definitely copy down and see if I can locate on Open Library).
However, and indeed a very huge and all encompassing however for me, considering that Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book has been conceptualised by Michael Norman with primarily younger readers in mind (and how I therefore also kind of assumed and expected that Norman's presented and collected stories would not be too creepy and would not feature a lot of violence), well and personally speaking, I certainly do find it more than a trifle problematic that Michael Norman concentrates (at least in my opinion) way too much and way too keenly on the macabre, on the vicious and on evil in Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book, that his collected and presented spooky Canadian hauntings stories usually feature primarily nasty, horrid ghosts and hardly ever ghosts who warn, who protect, spirits who are friendly or are simply just there as part of the surroundings (and that from the featured stories of Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book, while I did not actually majorly despise any of the tales, ALL of them except for the one about the Burnaby Art Gallery in British Columbia are definitely more than a bit too macabre and too violent for me and often more akin to horror stories, which I do tend to avoid and have never enjoyed reading all that much).
And combined with the fact that Michael Norman's writing style for Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book is (in my opinion) annoyingly choppy, uneven and often draggingly tedious, not ever truly exciting, not engaging at all (and sometimes also confusing and quasi all over the place so to speak), no, even though I am pleased that sources are acknowledged in Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book, sorry, but what Norman textually presents and shows with Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book just cannot and will not rate higher than two stars for me.
And yes, I also do very much appreciate (and am intellectually pleased) that Norman has included a detailed and extensive bibliography in Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book (which titles I will definitely copy down and see if I can locate on Open Library).
However, and indeed a very huge and all encompassing however for me, considering that Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book has been conceptualised by Michael Norman with primarily younger readers in mind (and how I therefore also kind of assumed and expected that Norman's presented and collected stories would not be too creepy and would not feature a lot of violence), well and personally speaking, I certainly do find it more than a trifle problematic that Michael Norman concentrates (at least in my opinion) way too much and way too keenly on the macabre, on the vicious and on evil in Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book, that his collected and presented spooky Canadian hauntings stories usually feature primarily nasty, horrid ghosts and hardly ever ghosts who warn, who protect, spirits who are friendly or are simply just there as part of the surroundings (and that from the featured stories of Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book, while I did not actually majorly despise any of the tales, ALL of them except for the one about the Burnaby Art Gallery in British Columbia are definitely more than a bit too macabre and too violent for me and often more akin to horror stories, which I do tend to avoid and have never enjoyed reading all that much).
And combined with the fact that Michael Norman's writing style for Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book is (in my opinion) annoyingly choppy, uneven and often draggingly tedious, not ever truly exciting, not engaging at all (and sometimes also confusing and quasi all over the place so to speak), no, even though I am pleased that sources are acknowledged in Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book, sorry, but what Norman textually presents and shows with Canadian Hauntings: A Haunted Canada Book just cannot and will not rate higher than two stars for me.
June 12, 2013
This book was decent. I found some of these stories quite interesting, but think that some of them could have gone into more detail.
June 7, 2015
I love the mystical. Although fiction lends itself to being dynamic; I cherish non-fictional documentation. There is more to us and animals than bodies. Love survives death. Michael Norman’s collection was marketed on the macabre, stereotyped spectrum of ghosts but “Canadian Hauntings” should nonetheless have been up my alley. Like an excellent joke needing a strident voice, this is a prime example of how the writing of a book makes or breaks enjoyable reading. This should have been like selling cold drinks in the desert. Given the tantalizing subject matter, I was surprised to find such a short book tedious. The compiler took a documentary approach, which is reasonable but if it were any other topic; I could fathom the dryness of the output.
These vignettes were written poorly. One or two didn’t adequately state their timeline and few elaborated on what became of the subjects afterwards. In the tale of the author who seemed to have killed his wife and himself, the phrasing made it sound like the phenomenon occurred only after the wife was told by neighbours that their house was haunted. Concerning a girl killed by a dead neighbour’s evil gaze floating at her window; who in the world could have given that information? Incomplete, abruptly-ended, dissatisfying articles were one impairment to an emotional or taut reaction. Fanciful, cliché descriptions fell flat. None were told well, perhaps because they were skimmed from this compiler’s “Haunted America” books.
I know for certain many of Canada’s more compelling experiences, however brief, missed inclusion. The second-largest grievance to the unsuccessful telling, was culling most of them from British Columbia and Québec. Either call this “B.C. & Québécois Hauntings”, or produce a Canada-wide sampling. The last several accounts were memorable. A skilled, Canadian, writer would do all of these accounts justice.
These vignettes were written poorly. One or two didn’t adequately state their timeline and few elaborated on what became of the subjects afterwards. In the tale of the author who seemed to have killed his wife and himself, the phrasing made it sound like the phenomenon occurred only after the wife was told by neighbours that their house was haunted. Concerning a girl killed by a dead neighbour’s evil gaze floating at her window; who in the world could have given that information? Incomplete, abruptly-ended, dissatisfying articles were one impairment to an emotional or taut reaction. Fanciful, cliché descriptions fell flat. None were told well, perhaps because they were skimmed from this compiler’s “Haunted America” books.
I know for certain many of Canada’s more compelling experiences, however brief, missed inclusion. The second-largest grievance to the unsuccessful telling, was culling most of them from British Columbia and Québec. Either call this “B.C. & Québécois Hauntings”, or produce a Canada-wide sampling. The last several accounts were memorable. A skilled, Canadian, writer would do all of these accounts justice.
October 19, 2017
What a spooky little book...it's not scary in the Graham Masterton/Stephen King sense but worse in a way as the tales are supposed to be true!
In "A Chance Encounter", for example, a celebrated author meets up with an old friend one evening at a convention, only to find out later that he died that morning!.....why would some make that up?...very strange....
In "A Chance Encounter", for example, a celebrated author meets up with an old friend one evening at a convention, only to find out later that he died that morning!.....why would some make that up?...very strange....
November 6, 2018
super scary do not recommend at all
April 13, 2023
I found some stories good but if it was longer and went into more detail I would put it at least 4 stars
September 21, 2024
great book for all ages
September 26, 2023
this book is caca
its not even scary and all of the stories are from like 100 years ago.
its not even scary and all of the stories are from like 100 years ago.
May 30, 2014
It was okay. Mostly very short (1 or 2 page) ghost stories from around Canada. Largely taking place prior to the 80s/90s, IIRC.
The only one that showed promise at being horror-film creepy is the last one, and it fell short for me - probably because I kept thinking about how stupid the haunting's motives were.
The cursed object one showed promise too, but fell flat - it showed up out of nowhere, so you couldn't find out anything about it and why it might be cursed. I like it when there's some research done, and you get more factual info. So I was cringing every time they brought a psychic into the house (and the story) and the book stated their information as factual with no background research.
I'd recommend it if you like ghost stories. There's a fairly broad range of eras for the hauntings, and types of incidences.
The only one that showed promise at being horror-film creepy is the last one, and it fell short for me - probably because I kept thinking about how stupid the haunting's motives were.
The cursed object one showed promise too, but fell flat - it showed up out of nowhere, so you couldn't find out anything about it and why it might be cursed. I like it when there's some research done, and you get more factual info. So I was cringing every time they brought a psychic into the house (and the story) and the book stated their information as factual with no background research.
I'd recommend it if you like ghost stories. There's a fairly broad range of eras for the hauntings, and types of incidences.
August 22, 2014
Written for a younger audience, so as an adult, I am reviewing this book. Not as good as other books I have read on the subject, but teens will love this and it is still worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews