"Stories that will make you wonder!"
This is a anthology of various types of ghost stories. The
one thing all these stories have in common is they all take
place on the prairie. Some of them are from the past and
some of them are contemporary. We have a mix of scary
stories, humorous stories and some of them are really sad.
Out of the sixteen stories contained in this anthology, I
decided to review one by each of the contributing authors. The first story in this anthology is one I really enjoyed.
CHRISTMAS AT THE GATES OF HELL by Linda Madl takes place at
Christmas. Two college students are traveling along a
Kansas road to spend Christmas at the home of one of them.
Ashley had the opportunity to spend her Christmas skiing,
but instead, she decided to go home with Ellie and see what
a Kansas Christmas was all about. Always into whatever is
considered "different", Ashley purchased a Tour Guide to
Ghosts before leaving. One of the places mentioned in the
book happens to be somewhere Ellie remembers playing as a
child. It just happens to be an old one room school house,
which later became used as a meeting place for the small
community. Naturally, Ashley stops and the two of them go
inside. When they begin hearing what sounds like voices,
the two of them run to their vehicle. Of course, it won't
start and the window is stuck in the open position. Do they go back inside the school house to wait? What are
the noises? Is the old school really haunted? The story I picked by author Jerri Garretson is GRISELDA.
Well, of course, this story involves a cat. Amy finally
agreed to move in with Ryan. Right after she made her
decision, Ryan informed her he already found a cheap place
to rent, furnishings included. So they begin to move in and
Ryan even carries her over the threshold. Deciding to check
out her new home, Amy moves around the house and sees a
shadow watching her. Now she's starting to get a little
creeped out and begins to wonder if the reason the rent is
so cheap is because the place is haunted. The next morning
when Amy wakes up, she finds herself alone in the house.
The place is locked up tight and she can't get out. Not to
mention, she can't even find her cell phone. When Ryan gets
home, he tells her she's not allowed to leave anymore and
he called and quit her job. To top things off, they get
into a fight and he locks her into the cellar with nothing
but a bed and bedding for company! Exactly what is the shadow Amy keeps seeing? What is up
with Ryan? The third story I decided to talk about is WHISPER ON THE
WIND by Barbara J. Baldwin. Our story involves a little
boy, shuffled from foster home to foster home, never
staying in one place long enough to make friends. Now Wayne
is on his way to yet another foster home, this one in the
country. He's always been in the city before and doesn't
want to be here in the Kansas countryside. So he ends up
coming into the home with a chip on his shoulder. After
dinner, he runs into the barn to do his homework and can't
believe the old plane he finds there! When he asks the old
man about it, Wayne ends up conned into doing chores and
the old man forgets to tell him about the plane.
Eventually, he finds out the plane belonged to a
barnstormer that crashed in the middle of the field on the
property. The old man saved the pilot's life and kept the
pieces of the plane. It also turns out the husband is a
pilot and wants to get the old plane up in the air again.
Wayne isn't sullen anymore. While sitting in the cockpit of
the old plane, Wayne hears a noise. Someone is talking to
him! Exactly who is talking to Wayne? Will they ever get the
plane in the air again? And last, but not least, we come to the story I decided to
write about by Sheri L. McGathy, THE GRAVEYARD DANCE. Our
story takes place in New Hope, Kansas, the place where Will
grew up. Now an old man, Will drives out to the old
cemetery, or where it used to be anyway, and sits down
under a tree and reminisces about his youth. Going back to
a time in his youth with his best friend, Tommy.
Remembering the time when the two of them saw something
they probably shouldn't have. The two of them decided to go
fishing on a nice summer evening. On their way to their
favorite fishing hole, they had to cross the old cemetery,
almost reclaimed by prairie at that time. While there, Will
just happened to glance up at the gate and saw the
words "New Hope never forgets its own". Well, the next
thing you know, they begin hearing noises. The noises turn
into a coach, but the coach isn't real! It's a ghost coach! What did the ghost coach come to the cemetery for? Why did
Will come here at his old age? TREPASSING TIME GHOST STORIES FROM THE PRAIRIE is a
wonderful collection of ghost stories set in Kansas. These
are the four stories from this anthology that really got
me, that will stick with me for a long, long time. All of
these stories did make me wonder. Are there really ghosts?
What of all the unexplained phenomena that occurs on a
daily basis? And this is exactly what a good book is
supposed to do. All these stories will draw you in and keep
you reading to find out what happens. Once you start
reading, you won't want to stop. Even though all these
stories are fiction, it will make you wonder what if? I
cannot recommend this book highly enough!
Reviewed by Chere Gruver
Posted November 21, 2006
|
