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World's Weirdest "True" Ghost Stories
Presents thirty-five brief tales of the supernatural, all of which are purported to be true
- GenresHorror
96 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
John Beckett
28 books40 followersI grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God.
I’m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin. I served 12 years as the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and 3 years on the Board of Trustees of CUUPS Continental. My first book The Pagan of Paganism was published in 2017 by Llewellyn Worldwide.
I’ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals since 2003. I live in the Dallas – Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.
I’m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin. I served 12 years as the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and 3 years on the Board of Trustees of CUUPS Continental. My first book The Pagan of Paganism was published in 2017 by Llewellyn Worldwide.
I’ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals since 2003. I live in the Dallas – Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 2, 2014
Really great stories here. The book's short, so I think this is a perfect thing to have in your bag. I really liked the stories of the car of death, the curse of the princess of Amen-Ra, and the haunted house.
All of these stories are supposedly true, and at the end of each I was thinking 'what happens next?"
Most of these stories are from old magazines from 1960 or so, and all the 'contemporary' stories take place in the 1950s.
Why don't they put out a sequel to this? It'd be a good idea.
All of these stories are supposedly true, and at the end of each I was thinking 'what happens next?"
Most of these stories are from old magazines from 1960 or so, and all the 'contemporary' stories take place in the 1950s.
Why don't they put out a sequel to this? It'd be a good idea.
June 16, 2009
Oh, I'm so excited that I get to be the only person on Goodreads to review this book! Let me begin by saying that I gave this book 4 stars as a balance between my 9-year-old self and my current self. Currently, I would give this book around one-and-a-half stars, but back then I loved this book more than stars can tell, so four seems a happy medium.
In gradeschool I LOVED ghost stories, and I still enjoy them. This was the quintessential ghost story book for me, because they were weird, and bone-chilling, and best of all, "true"! (Heavy on the quotation marks.) I wish you could see the cover, because it is great. A purple background, with all manner of weird images imposed at random over it (some fish, a cat, a haunted-looking mansion). Even now I can feel the vestiges of my elementary-school self getting giddy at the thought.
So, I chose this book in fourth grade as my "birthday book," a neat little program my elementary school had where you could buy a book (from a preapproved selection) to donate to the school's library, which would then have a certificate inside with your name and birthday, declaring it your birthday book. I'm forever grateful that I was excited enough about it at the time to record the name of the book in my journal, otherwise I would never have been able to track it down and enjoy the delightful trip down memory lane which I've just taken in re-reading it. It's actually out of print now, but I found it on Amazon for a few bucks. Thank you, Internet.
Well, as it turns out (you must have seen this coming) this is a really terrible book. The writing is so bad that I frequently cringed while reading, and it totally reads like the guy ripped off some weird news reports and urban legends, and typed them all up in an afternoon without doing any kind of additional research (or re-writing). I guess that's to be expected. I just find it charming that I really loved this book so much at the time, and really found it spooky. If you know any fourth graders into "true" ghost stories, I'd be glad to lend my copy and keep the tradition going another generation.
In gradeschool I LOVED ghost stories, and I still enjoy them. This was the quintessential ghost story book for me, because they were weird, and bone-chilling, and best of all, "true"! (Heavy on the quotation marks.) I wish you could see the cover, because it is great. A purple background, with all manner of weird images imposed at random over it (some fish, a cat, a haunted-looking mansion). Even now I can feel the vestiges of my elementary-school self getting giddy at the thought.
So, I chose this book in fourth grade as my "birthday book," a neat little program my elementary school had where you could buy a book (from a preapproved selection) to donate to the school's library, which would then have a certificate inside with your name and birthday, declaring it your birthday book. I'm forever grateful that I was excited enough about it at the time to record the name of the book in my journal, otherwise I would never have been able to track it down and enjoy the delightful trip down memory lane which I've just taken in re-reading it. It's actually out of print now, but I found it on Amazon for a few bucks. Thank you, Internet.
Well, as it turns out (you must have seen this coming) this is a really terrible book. The writing is so bad that I frequently cringed while reading, and it totally reads like the guy ripped off some weird news reports and urban legends, and typed them all up in an afternoon without doing any kind of additional research (or re-writing). I guess that's to be expected. I just find it charming that I really loved this book so much at the time, and really found it spooky. If you know any fourth graders into "true" ghost stories, I'd be glad to lend my copy and keep the tradition going another generation.
October 5, 2014
Reading Level: 6.4
Interest Level: 4-8
This is an extremely creepy book that children looking for a thrill will love! John Beckett starts off the book with a warning to the reader that the safe thing to do would to be to put the book back on the shelf, which instantly will leave children looking for excitement ready dive in to what this book is all about! This a longer chapter book and has somewhat difficult text, so it is definitely intended for older students. Each story has a chilling mood and the fact that all of the stories are true makes some of the stories send shivers up your spine! A great book to catch and hold onto the attention of students who love scary tails.
Interest Level: 4-8
This is an extremely creepy book that children looking for a thrill will love! John Beckett starts off the book with a warning to the reader that the safe thing to do would to be to put the book back on the shelf, which instantly will leave children looking for excitement ready dive in to what this book is all about! This a longer chapter book and has somewhat difficult text, so it is definitely intended for older students. Each story has a chilling mood and the fact that all of the stories are true makes some of the stories send shivers up your spine! A great book to catch and hold onto the attention of students who love scary tails.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews