Haunted Waters: Tales of the Old Coast

by Dick Hammond

These stories of coastal life come from days when the hardworking settlers who fished, hunted, ranched, and logged the west coast had to make their own entertainment. Back then daily life was dramatic enough that storytellers didn't have to exaggerate, but tales have a way of growing taller in a place where you have to be larger than life just to survive.In retelling these classic tales handed down by a master storyteller, Dick Hammond explores the shadowy territory between truth and myth: the handlogger who rows up to a dock in Egmont on evening with part of his leg - still in its boot - lying next to him on the stern seat; the deer tracks that mysteriously disappear in the middle of a snow-covered field; the mountain-shrouded homestead where a beautiful woman with eyes lika a cougar speaks of friends and family who may or may not be alive, or even real, all of whose voices can be heard in the Talking Falls. . . or can they? Dense with coastal lore, these captivating tales bear witness to a pioneer culture that mastered the art of wilderness survival, then faded away, leaving only ghosts and stories.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unpretentious little book, Hammond passing on tales his father told him about life mostly in the bush in BC about 80 years ago. I found it quite absorbing; much humour and a real flavour of the coast. My own grandfather wouldn’t have told these particular tales, but something about the telling reminds me of him. Highly recommended.

[R.Bruce Macdonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this is a collection told second or third hand and so has lost something in the telling.