The Big Book of Texas Ghost Stories

by Alan Brown

Hauntings lurk and spirits linger in the Lone Star State

Reader, beware! Turn these pages and enter the world of the paranormal, where ghosts and ghouls alike creep just out of sight. Author Alan Brown shines a light in the dark corners of Texas and scares those spirits out of hiding in this thrilling collection. From tales of haunted hotels like the Von Minden and The Beckham, to a creek where a woman’s screams can still be heard to this day, and the shadowy figures still stalking the Alamo, these stories of strange occurrences will keep you glued to the edge of your seat. Around the campfire or tucked away on a dark and stormy night, this big book of ghost stories is a hauntingly good read.

Genres: Supernatural, Ghosts

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caveat: I could not bring myself to read this entire book. I read the Austin chapter and then cherry picked. If you're someone who wanted to set up a ghost tour in your town for your friends or like to visit historic sites that could be haunted, this book would be a good place to start.

The information in the book is excellent. The writing style however, isn't really that of a ghost story. It reads more like a grocery shopping list of the building, the history of the building, and the general ghostiness of the location. It's matter-of-fact. It would be a great basis from which to spin a ghost story or a ghost tour, but they are not ghost stories in the way I think of them, at least.

So my rating is based on the fact that the content doesn't live up to what I'd want to read as a ghost story about local ghosts. It's really more the facts behind what you could turn into a ghost story.

This book would have more value if it was more like a travel/guide book that had each location's web site, hours it's open, et cetera.

It's also pretty exhaustive-- feels like just about any building built before 1900 has a place in this book, though that is not actually the case.

So, if you're someone who likes visiting spooky places, this book is for you. If you like actual ghost stories, this book is not for you.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a while all the stories started to sound the same, nothing stood out.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is fairly basic and I would have preferred more focused story telling but it is a fun book of local ghost stories.

[Holly Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had there been photos, I would have given this 4 stars. It’s a fun historical book, and it simply would have been so much better with some sort of photo or visual of the stories locations.

[Justin Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

closer to a 3.5. I'm a sucker for collections of allegedly true hauntings so Alan Brown's BIG (but not Big) BOOK OF TEXAS GHOST STORIES was always going to get read by me. the author certainly scours the lone star state but the book still ends up feeling like it's only scratching the surface.

indeed, while the books crosses from West Texas to Southeast Texas and everywhere between, Brown's accounts of the actual stories all follow the same pattern: here's a place, something tragic happened, generic platitudes about various hauntings. the author, either due to the information he's working with or a lack of creativity in describing different but similar hauntings, provides stories that all read the same. when the author does unveil a story that goes against the grain (such as some of South Texas's more regional specific tales of witchy owls and headless horsemen) does his book live up to the hype.

all said, an enjoyable light read, but one that has you begging for more.