Ghost Stories and Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia

Ghost House Books

by Barbara Smith, Volker Bodegom (Editor)

Read about the ghost ships that ply the Pacific Ocean, the phantom carriage of Kelowna and the legends behind the elusive sasquatch and the water monsters Ogopogo and Cadborosaurus.

Genres: Short Stories, Nonfiction, Canada, Paranormal, Horror

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Barbara Smith is a Canadian author celebrated for her captivating collections of ghost stories steeped in folklore, history, and national identity. Since leaving her job as a school secretary in 1988, she has published numerous books exploring Canada’s most enduring supernatural legends. Her passion for the paranormal was sparked as a child in Toronto and grew into a lifelong pursuit, fueled by a background in social history and mystery. With titles like Great Canadian Ghost Stories and Great Canadian Campfire Stories, Smith shares eerie tales from coast to coast, entertaining readers while preserving Canada's rich storytelling tradition.

Reviews

[Nazareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these kinds of stories! I love, even more, that they’re recorded from home!

[Yasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third book I have read in the series of Ghost Stories, altho' as in the title not only about ghosts. It also features a small section on water creatures in B.C as well as unidentifed flying objects (note: as the author points out not necessarily aliens, maybe ghost lights, maybe...). As always one does question the accuracy of these accounts as this is not a particularly up to date book, but does make an interesting read. These stories do reveal times in history one may not have otherwise been familiar with. While I'm near (at present) to areas where the Ogopogo sitings occur and haunted areas I'm naturally interested. Mandy the doll still draws interest and likewise the Ogopogo is still on post cards. In some areas of investigation into these accounts Loch Ness monster has been found not to exist (there may be still some believers) the account of Ogopogo is up for debate. There is also mention of Sasquatch around these parts. However, if the Sasquatch does exist their days are numbered as the increasing rush at progress will certainly invade and destroy what ever territory they may have and they may well be on the way to extinction rather like orangutans in Borneo. If a Sasquatch is captured alive in this process then God help them. Such would be a catrostrophoy behold wildest imagings. Altho it would be a great loss to know nothing of these creatures, if they exist, we could not live with them side by side, such is the violence of our nature. If there be other life forms that still visited one wonders why they haven't learnt their lesson yet! By all their reports of Earth it isn't worth continuing their investigations! On the whole the book was an entertaining little read and worth reading more in the series.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just okay. It wasn't told in a way that I was expecting; I'm coming from shows like Ghost Adventures and seeing this (ghost stories about a new place I've moved to), but it fell pretty flat for the most part. A lot of times the ghost stories will talk about photos with evidence but those weren't shown in the book, or we would get a photo but it would be one that isn't even the photo of discussion in the actual story. That was disappointing (not even google could produce the photos mentioned in the book). Overall, it was still an okay read, just not what I expected and not to the hight of spook that I was hoping for either.

[Morgan Gariepy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is one of my guilty pleasures. I'm not sure why.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

This poor book. First I got it and another book when I was in Victoria in B.C. and read the other first. This was too much like it so I took it into the house to let some time pass, dropped into a huge mud puddle, had to wash it up and dry and then stuck it somewhere heavy to flatten it. I just found it three years later…and promptly forgot it in the car and melted the glue. (and I’m usually so good with books…)

And I’m glad I did. It’s a very good compilation of true hauntings in British Columbia including Vancouver Island where I was. It’s broken up into haunted houses, ghost towns, haunted museums, haunted ships, haunted theaters, haunted inns, and hauntings in public. Ms. Smith tries to back up her stories with facts.

There is also a ‘classically haunted’ which may be more legend than reality and she’s honest about that in the narrative. And lastly is the titular ‘mysterious creatures’ mostly cryptids like sasquatch and lake monsters with a bit of UFO stuff tossed in. It’s a fun read for the ghost story lovers. Also being set exclusively in that section of Canada, and me being an American these stories aren’t as familiar to me as the stuff that makes it onto Ghost Hunters.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I can't quite put my finger on why I disliked the book so much A lot of the stories seemed really really far-fetched, and while I always read these books with a grain of salt, even considering that they were so ridiculous they didn't have much entertainment value. There wasn't a lot of detail on each alleged haunting, and for some reason, the book just didn't do it for me. I'm struggling whether to give it 2 or 3 stars, I really think it deserves 2 1/2 . Something about the writing style I guess I didn't like. Could it be that I just wasn't in the mood for ghost stories? I don't know. I guess you should take this review with a grain of salt as well.

[Lyndsay-ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost and monster stories are always fun to read, and they are even more fun to read when they are local stories. Some of the stories I have heard of before, so it was nice to learn more about them and the history behind. I also liked that it wasn't just ghost stories in the book, but also stories about the local monsters; sasquatch, and Ogopogo, as well as UFO sightings. I live in BC, and I love the fact that this province is so supernatural.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars, because that is what it deserves. It truly was "just okay." The book was very simple to read, and most of the stories were not as interesting as I hoped them to be. Maybe I would have rated it higher if I read it when I was younger.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read.

[Jana Denardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun collection of British Columbian ghost stories and a few cryptos as well

[Dominique Lamssies · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are good, but a little dryly written.

[Amanda Kramers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book but I will not say anymore here look for the book review on my website http://amankram.wix.com/amandasbookblogs