Ghosts of the Great Lakes: More Than Mere Legend

by Megan Long

The Great Lakes have a colorful past that spans hundreds of years, stretches over thousands of miles... and sometimes crosses into the spirit world. Ghosts of the Great Lakes takes readers from the far eastern shores of Lake Ontario to western Lake Superior, revealing haunting and strange tales. These whispers from the other side, however, are based in history and fact. One lighthouse site hides the bones of a murdered keeper. Rapping sounds in a family home mark the beginning of the Spiritualist movement in North America. A bride has a premonition that her honeymoon ride will end in death... and soon after, the steamer she was on vanishes. Repeated sightings of ghost ships. Can these strange phenomena be attributed to the imagination? How can multiple sightings be explained away as mere tricks of light and fog? Read these historical accounts of the Great Lakes' most fascinating ghost stories and judge for yourself―are they more than mere legend? Where does fact end... and folklore begin?

174 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2003

Reviews

[Eric]

A fun, short, easy read. It seems to be quite well researched, but some of the stories were obviously enhanced to make for a better story. I'm going to reread my three favorite ones, so that I'll have more stories to tell around the campfire next summer. And what with me being a history buff from Michigan, these stories all have a great local appeal.

[Victoria Marie Lees]

Megan Long's Ghosts of the Great Lakes: More Than Mere Legend is a well-researched book. Long offers detailed accounts of many spooky and tragic stories along with photos of the ships, locations, captains, and passengers. Her details make the stories come alive for the reader. The author organizes the collection of stories by the Great Lakes where the events happened.

I had no idea the Great Lakes had so many storms with deep, trench-like waves that seem to swallow schooners and steamers alike. I didn’t realize the depth of these lakes where schooners could sit upright on the bottom of the lake and their masts would be covered in water. One of the islands on Lake Erie held a Civil War prison. There are lighthouse keeper stories, disappearing tall ship stories, sisters who communicate with spirits, and even copper mining tragedies. Long’s book is stuffed with well-documented accounts of these legends. It’s an interesting read.

[Kristine Tymusz]

Enjoyable! Fun read!

[Ash]

Good examples of primary historical research and decent writing style. I enjoyed being able to pick this book up for light reading; often just a chapter at a time. Felt the pacing of historical photos and captions to be a bit staggered at times.

[Taryn Fink]

Good book for reading while spending time up on an island in the Great Lakes. Several of the stories weren't ghost stories, however. Though I did enjoy the book's wealth of historical information that I either didn't know, or that would've been skipped over in a typical history book. Worth the read in the right surroundings.

[Roxann]

I enjoyed reading this book. I have read stories about Lake Superior and Lake Michigan ghosts and ghost ships. This book added more stories of those two areas, but also from the other three Great Lakes.

[Amie]

Not very scary at all, but lots of interesting history.