Ghosts & Legends of Colorado’s Front Range

by Cindy Brick

Stunning natural wonders and bustling cities make Colorado's Front Range one of the country's best places to live, but its rowdy past left some residents unable to quit the state--even in death. Outside Fort Collins, many a startled visitor spies grisly shadows hanging from the notorious Hell Tree. A reputed murderer stalks the Greeley Courthouse near where he was lynched for his alleged crimes. The disembodied heads of two vengeful banditos float through the basement of the Capitol Building in Denver. And the Broadmoor Hotel of Colorado Springs plays nightly host to a mysterious phantom lady. Author Cindy Brick reveals these and more gripping tales of the Front Range's spectral history.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal

144 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2018

Reviews

[Aljan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I skimmed most of it after reading the first chapter. Written in an annoyingly conversational tone that gives it a juvenile feel.

[Robert Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is part of the Haunted America series of books, so if you’re familiar with that franchise, you pretty much already know what to expect here. In case you’ve never read one of those before, this (like all of the books in the series) presents short histories and ghost stories from several of the famous haunted locations in its region. Here, we start off with Fort Collins and move southward chapter by chapter until we end up in Colorado Springs, each time taking a few pages to hear some great ghost stories.

It's a bit of a mixed bag in terms of overall usefulness, though. If you just want a quick ghost story and a hint of some of Colorado’s history, it does a pretty good job. The book is attractively presented, well-written, and full of archival photographs to help you get a sense of what some of these famous haunts look like both now and in their past.

However, if you’re looking for anything resembling a deep history—or even an exhaustive collection of the ghost stories—for any of the locations, you’re likely to be disappointed. Each location is treated to no more than a page (maybe two pages at most) of coverage, and often much less. You don’t really learn many details about the histories OR the ghosts. Instead, treat this more like a travel guide that lets you know what places are out there. But if you really want to know more about any of the locations, you’ll have to check out other books. Fortunately, those sources are readily available either in full works dedicated to specific locations or in broader collections of Colorado history and paranormal lore both in print and online.

At the end of the day, it was a fun read, but for those of us who already knew a lot of the Colorado history and haunted lore, it didn’t provide much in the way of new information.

[Emerson Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ghosts & Legends of Colorado’s Front Range is a collection of stories in different towns, cities, and areas where unexplainable events occur. This book goes into the history of the Front Range and why there might be ghosts haunting fellow residents. However, it doesn’t explain a lot of the stories in depth, sticking to the history a bit more. Cindy Brick covers a lot of stories in a short time and it does get confusing if you aren’t fully concentrating on the book while reading. I didn’t like the structure of the book because it jumped around stories too quickly and just gave the history and what supernatural happenings are going on today, not giving many details of the events themselves. Although I didn’t like the book overall, I still learned a lot of new interesting facts and people that have lived along the Front Range. If you are looking for places to tour or are interested in gory history, this book is for you. However, don’t go in with many expectations of the ghosts and legends, because you won’t get a lot of information.

[Jack]

Author Cindy Brick takes readers on a travel through the Colorado Front Range with a glimpse of folklore and legends that shaped the history of the American West. Brick provides colorful background on the ghosts that are hanging around serving as a reminder of the adventures and struggles people went through as they traveled through the Front Range or chose to make it their home. Unfortunately, Brick’s writing style is overly wordy and her attempt at humor makes her story telling awkward. The book has no flow and is often confusing as Brick skips around from location to location and moves from one story to the next without purpose. But, if you’re looking for ghosts or would like to visit a part of Colorado rich in history, this book is for you.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found a few places I want to visit not just for ghosts!