Ghost Stories of California

Ghost House Books

by Barbara Smith

California's rich and colorful history has produced a wealth of tales about the supernatural. These unique stories of scary folklore come from all over the state and include such legends as the ghostly sailors that roam, the decks of the Queen Mary at Long Beach to the malevolent phantoms that still haunt Alcatraz.

Genres: Paranormal, Ghosts, Nonfiction, Ghost Stories, History, Mystery

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

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

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved these stories!

[Kristen Haynie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost Stories of California is exactly what it sounds like it would be. It's a very basic list of the most popular ghost stories that are told throughout the state of California.

While it's quite interesting to read about the Ghosts of California's past (especially if you actually live in California), you may not enjoy this book much if you're prone to skepticism about the afterlife. This book is full of exactly the kind of stories you might tell around a campfire, with very little research involved, if any. If the author took the time to do any research on these stories at all, the products of the findings are not discussed in the book. There might be the occasional "records show that this person actually was on this boat at that time," but aside from that, don't expect any actual evidence to back these paranormal claims up.

Still, it's fun to read about the ghostly legends that "haunt" California, as told by the locals who have passed those stories on for generations. Despite it's lack of evidence, it's an interesting book.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! It was well written, and held various accounts of different supposedly haunted places in California. As I am really in to the paranormal, and true ghost tales, this one was right up my alley! And the added bonus being I was born and raised in California, living the first 27 years of my life there, I knew of some of the places they spoke of.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I was hoping for some spooky stories about California, maybe some interesting history anecdotes about some famous landmarks. What I did not expect was an error filled book where such terms as "respected psychic" and "students of the paranormal" were used unironically. I'm a skeptic at heart, so I was prepared to take whatever stories I found with a grain of salt, but the author's continued insistence that not only are all of these ghost sightings very real, but that psychics and mediums are reliable sources had me rolling my eyes more than once. Not to mention, this book feels like someone used a thesaurus and replaced more easily understood words with overcomplicated synonyms. One of my notes literally reads "stop trying to use words" because I had to keep googling terms, like habiliments. Such errors as "Them men eventually..." (page 174) and "...where there was in great demand for its supposedly life-enhancing properties." (page 176) are sprinkled throughout the text and, combined with multiple stops to consult Sir Google, made finishing this book a slog.

Not worth it.

[Joseph R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers a wide range of stories of ghostly experiences in California. Tales from the entertainment industry, the ghost towns abandoned after the California Gold Rush, and everyday life are brought together. A lot of the stories are fairly short (just a page or two) and they are told more from a reporter's perspective than from a folklorist. The author takes the subject of ghosts scientifically, enumerating various types of apparitions and phenomena and referencing the sort of ghost hunters who use special cameras and other scientific equipment. While the attitude fits her writing style, I find it less interesting. I'm more interested in the drama and the history that comes with ghost stories, so I found this book only mildly interesting and less satisfying than other collections of ghost tales.

Mildly recommended--this isn't bad, it's just not my style.

[Crystal Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read for the spooky season and of historical interest to Californians.

Some of the places mentioned are closed, like the Records on K Street in Sacramento, so an update or new edition would be nice. A lot has happened in 21 years...fires wiping out huge chunks of towns/cities and sometimes wiping them out altogether, the pandemic, buildings being torn down or falling down...the list goes on.

I would have organized the book differently by focusing each chapter or section on a different city/town. This would make it easier for people to go back to look up places where they live or are visiting. Having all the Sacramento hauntings together, for example, would make it easier for someone to check out some of the places mentioned...or whatever is now where the haunting was. A sort of ghost tour for each city.

[Kirstyn McWilliams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book a solid 3.5 stars. It was a fun lil read that describes many ghost sightings and the history behind haunted locations all throughout California. As someone who’s lived in California their whole life and has been to many of the cities talked about in the book, it was very fun learning about the rich history of the state; stories that describe life from the gold rush/mining era of the California deserts to the glitz and glam of old Hollywood and the ghosts/spirits that still reflect those time periods. My favorite section of ghost stories in this book is definitely the “Marine Manifestations” section; I wasn’t expecting a section about oceanic ghosts to interest me the most but I’m glad it did! I definitely think this is a good read for anyone who is interested or believes in the paranormal and wants to learn a lil more about California’s incredible history. :)

[Elizabeth Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost Stories of California intrigued me because I've been to several of the places listed in the book, and was not always aware of the activity that was supposed to have taken place. I love a good ghost story of any kind, but this book is rather tame considering the subject matter, and could be read by almost any age group. The stories are interesting historical wise, but are not over the top scary.

[Matthew Pinales]

GHOST STORIES of CALIFORNIA By Barbara Smith. The genre is horror. It doesn't have a setting. I like that there's Multiple stories in it One i really liked was the wally house.I like is because it tells a bunch things you might not know about California.
In real life it is real places people actually go there that's cool. This is why I like this book. I think others will like it too.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for introductory research.

[Star Shining Forever · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned a lot about the history & stories from some of California’s haunted places.

[David Fineman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that Ghost Stories of California was a very good and interesting book. I thought it was a good book because i really like to read and listen to ghost stories so that made that book really fun for me. It was interesting to me because some of the stories didn't really make sense to me so I had to read them a few times to understand it fully. What made it difficult for me to understand was the language. This brings me to my first literary term figurative language which is when you you don't get some words in the book and have to look them up in a dictionary or glossary. I chose this literary term because that was the case with me I didn't fully understand some word in the book so I had to go look them up. The second literary term that I chose was flashback. I chose this because this happened a lot in the stories where they flashback to an event where they think the haunting might have occurred. So overall I thought that this book was a little complicated at first but when I got deeper into the book and the stories it became a really good and exciting read. I recommend it to anyone who likes listening to ghost stories and doesn't mind a little adventure and some creepy ghost stories.

[hala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book a few years ago at the gift shop of the Winchester Mystery House, which is funny because the Winchester Mystery House is mentioned in the book. Anyway, this book was very interesting and full of stories about ghosts (real stories) in California. If you're looking for a book about ghosts anywhere in general, this is not the book for you, because it only talks about ghosts in California. But if you are looking for ghosts in California, or don't care where they are as long as they are interesting, I suggest you read this book.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend gave me this book because she knows I love anything paranormal and it was very good - lots of interesting stories (one in particular about hauntings on the Queen Mary). I also appreciated the fact that the author made an effort to document each event. I've local histories before where it's all he-said/she-said and the events are too nebulous to be truly spine chilling. This book gave me a few goosebumps.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and interesting. The author puts a keen spin on popular and unknown haunted sites in the golden gate state. The sites are grouped by location so you cna pick and chose the areas you want to read about.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compiled collection of short stories taken from peoples personal accounts with supernatural encounters. I would have liked a better description of the locations and some stories are vague. I am still giving it 4 stars because it keep my interest and did find some stories I have never heard of.

[Holly Lamb]

Good campfire type reading. Honestly, I didn't finish it.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books like this, folklore.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book filled with many haunting, true stories of various landmarks located in California. A good read!

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty neat...if you are intrigued by spirits.

[Ryan Swaim]

It gets pretty repetitive with the "mysterious sounds," but the history of California related to the "ghosts" is pretty cool.

[Jess Saravia 🧚‍♀️✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing too extraordinary.. just some ghosty ghosts coming back to say hello