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Spooky New York: Tales Of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, And Other Local Lore
Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready for thirty creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences in New York. Set in the Empire State's big cities, historic towns, rugged lakes, and sparsely populated backwoods, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have readers looking over their shoulders again and again.
New York's folklore is kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and in artist Paul Hoffman's evocative illustrations. Readers will meet the White Lady of Rochester, dance to the rival fiddlers in Brooklyn, hear otherworldly voices in the Catskills, and run into the things that go bump in the night on Long Island--or simply feel an icy wind on the back of their necks on a warm New York evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma's, this is a collection to treasure.
New York's folklore is kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and in artist Paul Hoffman's evocative illustrations. Readers will meet the White Lady of Rochester, dance to the rival fiddlers in Brooklyn, hear otherworldly voices in the Catskills, and run into the things that go bump in the night on Long Island--or simply feel an icy wind on the back of their necks on a warm New York evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma's, this is a collection to treasure.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
20 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
S.E. Schlosser
39 books30 followersAuthor S.E. Schlosser has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of "let's pretend" quickly built themselves into full-length stories. A graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and Rutgers University, she also created and maintains the website AmericanFolklore.net, where she shares a wealth of stories from all 50 states, some dating back to the origins of America.
(source: Amazon)
(source: Amazon)
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 20, 2012
This could have been a pretty interesting book, if the author hadn't tried to update the actual haunting tales into modern short stories. I found the presentations to be rendered pedestrian when put in this format, which was too bad, since I'd not heard some of them before. The illustrations by Paul G. Hoffman were made to look like woodcuts, and many of those were very nice.
March 4, 2023
This book contains 38 retold tales associated with New York lore. Although they cover the state, they are concentrated in the eastern part. Many of them are told in first person style, which may create a little confusion at first, since they come from different time periods. The stories are well written, but they don’t go into detail about the history of how the tales got started.
Many books like this will try to trace the origins of a tradition—I guess I was kind of hoping that’s what this one would do. Some of the stories are part of national folklore (as I mention in my blog post about it—Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), since they’re told about different parts of the country. Others are specific to New York. All of them, I should say, are New York stories, but some of them aren’t exclusively New York.
Some of them are distinctly creepy. The final story, which is a Hudson Valley staple, is scary since it appears to be based on a real event. There’s a retelling of Sleepy Hollow’s headless horseman, and not a few ghosts and witches roam the state. It’s a good book for the spooky season of the year; just don’t look to it for the history behind the stories.
Many books like this will try to trace the origins of a tradition—I guess I was kind of hoping that’s what this one would do. Some of the stories are part of national folklore (as I mention in my blog post about it—Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), since they’re told about different parts of the country. Others are specific to New York. All of them, I should say, are New York stories, but some of them aren’t exclusively New York.
Some of them are distinctly creepy. The final story, which is a Hudson Valley staple, is scary since it appears to be based on a real event. There’s a retelling of Sleepy Hollow’s headless horseman, and not a few ghosts and witches roam the state. It’s a good book for the spooky season of the year; just don’t look to it for the history behind the stories.
June 12, 2020
There was nothing wrong with this book really, it just wasn't particularly amazing and most of the stories weren't memorable and the characters all seemed the same. Now, I didn't hate this book I thought it was a great blend of the true ghost stories and fictional ones, but I do wish maybe that the author included some section that said "okay, here's what is based on real ghost sightings and history in this story" because that would have made this a much more interesting read.
September 13, 2021
It's there. I was hoping this would be more a collection on personal accounts of New York-based hauntings and happenings. Instead what we get is a collection of fables which is more akin to Brother's Grimm than anything else. Top it off, none of the fables are truly that interesting.
The famous Scary Stories to tell in the Dark has a very similar feel but far superior content.
The famous Scary Stories to tell in the Dark has a very similar feel but far superior content.
October 22, 2019
I read about halfway and had to stop. I was expecting horror or something not as tame as what's written here. The stories are well written but the title is misleading. The stories were watered down spook. Just didnt want to continue reading something that wasn't truly frightful.
April 16, 2020
This is a collection of short stories. I likes some more than others, naturally. I like how each story has an illustration since I personally don't own many books that have that. I thought it was a nice touch.
April 7, 2021
Great read! Such fun stories! Some familiar and some new, all great. Perfect campfire lore and nighttime reading. Highly recommended
January 29, 2022
This book includes a bunch of short stories. They are very interesting folklore and tall tales. It was something a little different than I normally read but it was still a nice little read.
May 22, 2024
As someone who lives in Spooky New York and has traversed much of Spooky New York, I really dig this book that is Spooky New York! It's spooktastic!
August 18, 2024
Cute and fast moving folklore stories
September 19, 2024
Fun book, enjoyed the modern approach to the tales.
February 20, 2025
A fun little series of modern updates of classic New York ghost stories.
July 3, 2015
Review for Spooky New York
I picked this book up because I’m from New York State and I’ve always enjoyed ghost stories. I’ve read other books on local lore and never found them especially scary. The stories were always related like someone telling about a local legend.
This book wasn’t like that at all! They were written as if the author were telling a story. Some of them were written in the first person, while others were written in the third person. I liked that each story had characters beyond just the ghosts of legend. I also enjoyed that some of the legends mentioned in this book were not ones that I’d seen featured in other books. This isn’t to say that they aren’t true legends from the area. It only took me a few moments to find internet references to the White Lady of Durand Eastman Park, for example. Other stories were retellings of urban legends that I'd heard before.
I picked this book up because I’m from New York State and I’ve always enjoyed ghost stories. I’ve read other books on local lore and never found them especially scary. The stories were always related like someone telling about a local legend.
This book wasn’t like that at all! They were written as if the author were telling a story. Some of them were written in the first person, while others were written in the third person. I liked that each story had characters beyond just the ghosts of legend. I also enjoyed that some of the legends mentioned in this book were not ones that I’d seen featured in other books. This isn’t to say that they aren’t true legends from the area. It only took me a few moments to find internet references to the White Lady of Durand Eastman Park, for example. Other stories were retellings of urban legends that I'd heard before.
September 19, 2009
This book is great! There are so many different stories. Most of them are stories I've heard before but they are more detailed. I felt that some of the really old tales were too long and contained useless information but they definitly were scary. This book makes me want to go explore some of the places, such as the Empire State building (very interesting story about a young girl who haunts the observation deck!!), and maybe see what locals think. I personally enjoyed 'The Gray Lady.' This story is set at a military base during the Revolutionary War. Very sad but mostly revolting. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in folklore, New York history, or likes a good scare!!
February 29, 2012
I enjoyed some of the stories in this book and have heard a few before,even though i am not from america,some were long and probably by the time some were finished i would have fallen asleep if these were told round a campfire. my favourites were the night riders,the loup garous debt,the maid of the mist,bakers dozen,the gold tooth,goin fishin,tug of war,the rising of gouverneur morris and observatory. i have several others in this series and look forward to reading them
March 8, 2016
The lore is interesting, but the writing is horrible. There is a BARE minimum of legend and historical reference for each tale framed by ridiculously trite fictionalized stories with shallow (often misogynist) characters. Not at all what I was hoping for. Where can I find a book that actually explores the legends and gives some real historical framing, not this cheap sell out?
December 30, 2011
I enjoyed most of the stories in this book. Most of them weren't scary, but I like reading local lore.
My favorite story was "The Knight Riders." That would be a great story to extend into a book or even a movie.
My favorite story was "The Knight Riders." That would be a great story to extend into a book or even a movie.
September 10, 2014
I thought the book was going to be about true hauntings in ny. I guess this was the case but turned into crumby ghost stories that I think were awful. I only finished since if is tart something I have to finish it. The first story I found quite enjoyable however.
August 12, 2009
A great collection of spooky New York folklore!
January 12, 2007
very good stories
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews