Ghosts and Haunted Houses of Maryland

by Trish Gallagher, Howard Burns (Illustrator)

Tells the stories of haunted colleges, taverns, and homes, poltergeists, strange apparitions, and unexplained noises

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Ghosts, History, Mystery, Ghost Stories

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1988

Reviews

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting little read. I would like to visit some of these places just to see them. The places mentioned seem to have a lot of history attached to them and I love history.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

(review from last Hallowe'en)

Reading this today (not actually intentionally!), and it's sort of... there MUST be a reasonable explanation for everything in this—for instance, I hallucinate loads when I'm just tired and staring at the ceiling, especially after waking up in the middle of the night—but it's a puzzle I'm not really inclined to solve, and as mere spooky stories, it's told from too historical a perspective to be entertaining.

Like, I get that writing such a book (supposedly nonfiction) doesn't allow for loads of flourishes, particularly as a third party reporter. I just think it should go back in the little library for an actual Hinata Fuyuki* to find. Probably good, but not interesting to me (reminds me of reading history texts in school, to the same effect).

*Character MASSIVELY into the occult

[Dennis Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rather short book with less than eighty pages of text but there is a lot of spookiness packed into those few pages. The book is not as short as you might imagine however for the typeset is rather small and this tiny type, which rendered necessary the use of glasses, is one of the few problems that I had with this book. Also, a few of the stories were rather lacking in detail and verification and were thus little more than old legends. The majority of the stories were however well researched and included a solid history of the haunted location and the ghost or ghosts in question. Most importantly though, the solid majority of these stories contained the recent eyewitness accounts that are so important to the credibility of this type of book.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published 33 years ago in 1988, ‘Ghosts & Haunted Houses of Maryland’ is hardly extensive, especially only 95 pages in length, and could use updates, as well as additions.

That being said, it’s a great one-day read for anyone who loves ghost stories, and for anyone who resides in any part of Maryland or anyone just visiting who’d like some background on any given town or county. A tour brochure of the local supernatural, if you will.

I appreciated the broad historic inclusions regarding slavery and the Civil War.

[MizJawnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read, perfect for transitioning to spooky season! It’s a little dated now and most of the stories are of private homes - not necessarily places you can visit. I still thought it was good for a small taste of the history of each location, info from current/recent owners, and just enough scariness for a chill without nightmares. I picked this up at my local library. I’m pretty certain I read it before but I enjoyed reading it again!

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of ghost stories from around Maryland. The phenomena are interesting enough, but it's the author's storytelling and historical perspectives that really make this worth reading. (B+)

[Linda Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this on the bookshelf, unread. Decided it was a good time of year to read it. Quick stories documenting ghostly encounters in homes around the state. I enjoyed the read!

[Sian Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written stories with moderate doses of actual history and evidence of actual first-person journalism, paired with atmospheric drawings. In short, this is what I want in a collection of local ghost stories.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun. I love oral history about ghost stories because I feel like it gives me a different window into history than a regular history account.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories, well written. Would read another book by her

[Megan Hex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly everything I could want from a nonfiction book of ghost stories! Spooky details, lots of points of view in the stories, etc. very good ghost book.