Spooky Virginia: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore

by S.E. Schlosser, Paul G. Hoffman (Illustrations)

State-specific ghost guides never fail to raise our paranormal spirits for two reasons: they sell well and they promote local tourism. Each book in this batch of edgy, spine-tingling paperback combines dramatic accounts of eerie historical incidents and information about haunted places in your state. Sleep tight.

Genres: Ghosts, Short Stories, Folklore

284 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2010

About the author

Author 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)

Reviews

[Denver Michaels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. There were a lot of good stories from Virginia that I hadn't heard before, and I liked the way the author recounted them. Even the stories I was familiar with were told in an original and entertaining way.

[Tania Kinsel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, but not what I was looking for in this book. Based on the title, I assumed it would be information ghost stories and spooky folklore, where they came from, etc. In reality, these are more along the lines of fun stories to tell, but not much actual information on the folklore and origins themselves.

[Sasha Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are fun short stories. Oddly enough, the Gloucester one was my favorite and I'd never heard it before.

[Kurt Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half these stories don't even qualify as "spooky."

[Megan Fraedrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the style and concept of this book and it was perfect for reading in a snug little cabin in the woods, but I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this one, for reasons I’ll get into in a minute.

The basic idea here is that the author retells 30+ spooky legends and tales from around Virginia, stories purported by locals to be true. Some of these I knew, some I didn’t, and some are localized twists on old legends. My favorite was one about an Appalachian vampire. But she tells them in the style of a campfire story, in first person, rather than just drily documenting the legend. (Sometimes the narrator is telling an experience that happened to a friend or family member.) So for each story, she adopts a different character and voice. Some are modern hauntings and others are historical.

And therein lies the trouble, because as we all know, Virginia has some pretty dark history. Two of the stories are told from the POV of enslaved people, one of them in vernacular, and I think that’s a tone-deaf choice at best. One of the stories also featured a “beloved” mistress who all of the enslaved workers loved and were upset when she died. (Another similar one included a master’s young daughter who everyone loved, though it’s unclear whether the characters in that story are servants or enslaved or what year it’s set in.) I think that even if you’re trying to be authentic about the history of these ghost stories and how they’re traditionally told, you can do that without reinforcing myths about “happy” slaves with “good” enslavers. The kicker is that this edition of the book was published in 2023!

I did enjoy most of the stories in this book and really liked the atmospheric woodcut illustrations, but that handful of stories keep this from being my preferred resource for haunted Virginia folklore.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun collection of "retold" tales of ghosts and other Virginia legends and lore

[Melissa Loucks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading the Spooky series. I did not know a lot about Virginia spooky history so I got to learn a lot from this one.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded to 4. This collection of stories wasn’t super spooky but was enjoyable to read.

[Kitty Bit · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟

[Diane Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read! It was divided into single short stories that were either legend, haunting, or curious. Each one was from a different part of Virginia, and that added to the interest! I particularly enjoyed the story about George Washington, and the story of the Vampire was a little creepy! This is a wonderful fall or Halloween book!

[Katy Brubaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was no where near as spooky as I had hoped, but still some fun stories.

[Kyle Hedrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a great story! I wish I could write like that. I recommend this book to people who like some scares, some laughter, and some heart-warming moments.

[Elena Padilla]

Definitely would recommend, very informative, and interesting.