Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia

by Vernon Oickle

Are you afraid of things that go bump in the night? Do you think someone is watching you even though no one is there? Do doors and windows open and close on their own? If you’ve answered yes to even one of these questions, then join veteran ghost story teller Vernon Oickle as he brings to life some of Nova Scotia’s most intriguing tales of suspense in this collection of ghost stories.

Genres: Canada, Nonfiction, Ghost Stories

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Vernon Oickle lives in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. He studied journalism in Lethbridge, Alberta and upon his graduation in 1982, he returned to his hometown to begin his newspaper career. Since then, Vernon has won many regional, national and international awards for writing and photography. In 2012, he won the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors’ Golden Quill Award for best editorial writing, becoming only the third Canadian and the first Nova Scotian to win this honour since it was first presented in 1961.

Today, he is the editor of the nationally award-winning newspaper, The Lunenburg County Progress Bulletin in Bridgewater. Since October 1995 he has been writing the popular and award winning column, The Editor’s Diary. Helping to shape and influence public opinion on a wide range of topics that over time, his writing increasingly touches a populist nerve by airing topics important to his readers.

In addition to being an award winning journalist and editor, Vernon is the author of 18 books, many of which collect and preserve the heritage and culture of Atlantic Canada. In 2010 he launched a series of novels that get their names from a Maritime folklore rhyme about seven crows.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do I believe in ghosts? Not really, but after reading Vernon Oickle's Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia in 2017 during a summer visit to Cape Breton, I must admit that I am definitely increasingly willing to consider that paranormal occurrences might well and indeed exist, might be something realistic and not imaginary, not simply invented (although to be honest, I would still actually have to experience a haunting myself in order to be fully convinced that ghosts are or can be real).

Now the main reason why Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia has (at least in my humble opinion) a definite and textually intriguing tendency towards potential and often even towards probable authenticity and reality attached is that the majority of Oickle's featured tales represent firsthand ghost (et al) stories from the current, from the actual (modern-day) and named (identified) owners and residents of supposedly haunted buildings, eyewitness reports from individuals who have come across eerie sights, sounds etc. in Nova Scotia (both urban and rural, both outside and inside), and which makes Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia marvellously different from, say, urban legends (as the latter generally are anonymous and often have someone telling a tale they have heard from the friend of a friend, and which does not tend to be the case with Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia). And well, and furthermore, none of accounts shown by Vernon Oickle in Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia therefore feel artificial to and for me (delightfully straight-forward, not overly creepy, they are mysterious but always believable and authentic sounding), that Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia certainly never textually sounds like its tales could perhaps be either hoaxes or simply the outpourings of overly active imaginations, but stories of hauntings, of strange occurrences, of ghostly apparitions which the people giving these accounts to Oickle have actually and truly experienced (or at the very least totally and absolutely believed to have experienced), and that yes, with many of the ghostly encounters, weird sounds, strange lights and the like shown and presented in Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia, these have often been occurring for years, for decades and sometimes even for centuries, with many individuals both in the present and equally so in the past experiencing them, recounting them.

Furthermore and textually delightfully, every ghostly tale of Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia also includes Vernon Oickle's well-researched and generally soundly solid background information on the history of the featured Nova Scotia places and the people and events that shaped them (generally error free, except that the Halifax Explosion, this happened during WWI and not during WWII, although considering how historically accurate everything else in Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia generally is, I do think that this gaffe probably is simply an inadvertent typo and not an actual historically significant mistake). And yes, Oickle's approach in Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia of presenting actual (and specifically identified) people and of also showing historical backgrounds, in my opinion, this cements the feeling of reality for Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia and should thus also make even skeptics at least consider the possibility of authenticity, of truth, and of ghosts and the like possibly being something real. Four stars for Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia, warmly recommended, and while Vernon Oikle has not specifically penned Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia for children, Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia is definitely also suitable for younger readers (for anyone aged eleven or so onwards) as well as also not being overly creepy, not being majorly frightening (and that my enjoyment of Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia also now makes me want to try the sequel as well as Oikle's books on "true" Maritime ghost stories).

[Anna Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think what caused me to pick this book back up was the nostalgia behind hearing/reading so many of these same stories as a kid. there’s always a charm to local ghost stories, I find. Especially in my province of Nova Scotia. That being said, folklore and storytelling is an art I absolutely adore, and this book definitely hit the part of my heart that reminded me of forcing my father to take me on the Citadel Hill ghost tour at least four times in one year when I was younger. That being said, this collection of stories from Vernon Oickle was good, though i do wish it had been run through an editor or a proof-reader a couple times more before being published, just due to a couple of spelling and grammatical errors.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but mostly because it was stories from my home province and places I recognized. It was neat.

[Francine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always fun to read ghost stories and even better when about places I've been. Most of these places I didn't even know where supposed to be haunted. Great writing!

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! The stories reminded me of home and all our lively history. I am pretty sure I either went to school with the author or a relative of his so small world!

[Lit Wizard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a blast reading this. Great stories and some fun local history lessons.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this while on vacation in Nova Scotia. I love true haunting stories. These days I prefer ones that are actually investigated. This collection isn't that. In fact in some ways it feels like it was done in two time periods. Many of the first stories felt like old-time sit around the camp fire stories and the second half of the book at least mentioned looking for historical back up to the stories. I really appreciated that attempt to see if there were the tragic events that were claimed by the story. I enjoyed the fact that I was at several places like the Keltic Lodge, Peggy's Cove and the fort. It's a fun book.

[Digitally Lit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review by Emily:
5 star review 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Ghost Stories of Nova Scotia, written by Vernon Oickle and published by @nimbuspub , is exactly what the title describes. A book of ghost stories that takes the words right from the province of Nova Scotia’s people.

This book mixes paragraphs of history with words and direct quotes from real people who reside in Nova Scotia. The set up of the chapters is very pleasing in my mind, as I like that it starts almost like an interview, and then mixes paragraphs of history in to flesh out and bring fact and proven history into these stories. Each chapter is a different story coming from various haunted places in Nova Scotia, like Lunenburg and Antigonish.

The stories told in this book are very well written, and the way the author tells the stories makes it attention grabbing. I love ghosts so naturally I loved this book, and the fact that some of these stories are “close to home” makes them ever more real. I have a few places in this book saved that I would one day love to visit.

I gave this book 5 stars because, for me, there was nothing I didn’t enjoy reading. Were they all the scariest stories ever? No. But I liked that. I enjoyed the mix of the more scary things with a few more tame stories that aren’t scare the pants off you. I also enjoy that the author made a point of saying that anything is possible. Sure some stories may make you say “that didn’t happen,” but the author makes a good point of saying these are real people, and we weren’t their with them when these things happened, so who are we to say these aren’t honest and true?

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good collection of ghost stories, more interview style with fact in between writing, and those who enjoy local history. Thank you @digitally_lit for providing me with this book for being an Our Stories Matter Youth Ambassador.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it interesting because of the local stories and places I recognized. I don't know if it was the writing style, but I did find some of the eye witness accounts a little hard to believe. I think the story writing was a little basic. Maybe lacked detail. But, I always love reading about local lore.

[Kaity Thoms · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a little more history or info about the ghosts in the stories. Found it very surface level. Some stories were interesting but I wasn’t blown away by this book.

[The Carrion Librarian]

DNF - 50%