World's Best "True" Ghost Stories

by C.B. Colby

There's no place to hide from this fantastic assortment of ghost stories, for most of them take place in the cozy towns and friendly cities of the good old U.S.A. Some are funny-scary, some are silly-weird, and some will chill your bones. But every one is supposedly "true." What a great way to spend a cold and stormy night alone!

Strange --
The light in the window --
The sound of the drip --
The man and the glove --
The spell on the mirror --
The iron tomahawk --
Off the time track? --
Tunnel to the past --
The phantom schooner --
Hitchhiker to Montgomery --
The haunted cabin --
Ghostly Animals --
NIght ride --
The dream dog --
The witch cat of the Catskills --
The frightened dog --
The white dove --
Ghost dog on the stair. Partying with ghosts --
A night with the dead --
Sam plays the ghost from South Troy --
Lucky at cards --
The anniversary party --
Sea-faring ghosts --
The tale of the strangled figurehead --
Ghost on the beach --
Women all in white --
The mystery of the Seabird --
The great wheel of light --
Faces in the sea --
Ghost in the house --
The ghost of Greylock --
The octagon hauntings --
The Waterford ghost's revenge --
The baby ghost --
The headless lady --
The black thing in the cellar. Saved by a ghost! --
Lord Dufferin's story --
The phantom stagecoach --
The doctor's visitor --
The indian guide --
Protection from beyond --
Bizarre! --
The ghost with flaming fingers --
The old man of the woods --
The ghost of dead man's curve --
The haunted schoolhouse --
Vanished! --
The man who fell forever --
The man they couldn't bury --
Tragedy atop the glacier --
Eskimo village --
Tales of terror --
The vanishing Oliver Larch --
The terrible hand --
The whistle --
The strange death of Mrs. Reeser

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Short Stories, Ghost Stories

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 1989

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, I actually do not tend to find C.B. Colby’s anthology of over forty short and concise young reader friendly ghost stories (and which are all reputed to be true) really all that believable, and mostly so because the selected tales, well for me they totally feel more like urban myths than solid bona fide ghost stories.

For indeed, the vast majority of the ghost and hauntings accounts shown by C.B. Colby in World’s Best True Ghost Stories are not of specific places and of named individuals (which in my opinion, “true” tales of ghosts and hauntings really should be showing, such as for example the famous Deane Boarding House in Calgary Alberta or how the Rose Plantation in Jamaica is very specifically being haunted by the restless spirit of murderous Annie Palmer) but rather general and often lacking in the specifics of time, place and name, similar to the above mentioned urban legends but not really like “true” accounts of ghosts and haunted places and areas, engaging enough in and of themselves, but honestly, if I wanted urban legends I would get myself a book of the same, and I was definitely expecting something quite a bit different with regard to World’s Best True Ghost Stories and have thus been more than somewhat disappointed by C.B. Colby’s stories and how he often claims that his tales were told to him by friends of friends (and yes, this is also more a feature of urban legends and not of solid ghost tales supposedly true).

Still, the stories themselves might well be appealing to and for young readers who do not want ghost stories that are too scary and also do not care that C.B. Colby has made his tales more anonymous and vague than “true” ghost stories usually are supposed to be. But for me, while World’s Best True Ghost Stories have been sufficiently diverting, they are just too much like urban legends for me to consider a higher rating than a pretty generous three stars (and not to mention that the lack of bibliographic materials for World’s Best True Ghost Stories also makes one doubt potential veracity and consider C.B. Colby’s anthology of tales likely more legendary and untrue than reality).

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun spooky book to read with my kids. The only thing I reccomend is to read this one with your kids early in the day that way they are not going to bed thinking about spooky things.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Numerous short stories about ghosts, some were passed down with people claiming they are true, while others still have people believing something strange is going on.
Im in no hurry to prove anyone right or wrong, so I will just take their word on it.

[Princess Pandora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute Ghost Stories To Read Around A Campfire While Out Camping! And I Personally Felt They Were All Appropriate For My Son And His Friends (Ages 10-11)

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good collection of ghost stories, though I'm of course skeptical about the "truth" of all of them. Who wouldn't be? Many of them don't have a really rational explanation if taken at face value; for instance, the travellers who stopped at a farmhouse for the night because they were too far from town and stayed with the couple there, only to reach town the next day and find out that farmhouse had burned to the ground twenty years before. Prank? Strangely accurate dream/hallucination? Or are ghosts REAL??

The problem is each one is pretty short (most "real" ghost stories aren't that involved, I imagine), so it's a lot like reading flash fiction, where there's really no time to "get to know" the characters before their stories are over. I read a little over a third of the book, and while the stories are good, I'm not really interested in reading the rest.

Recommended for reading out loud to a group around a campfire!

[Karen DeKleyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book of supposedly true ghost stories.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old Children's Book. Liked it as a kid, but haven't read it in years.

[heather m. albrecht · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun nostalgic read! Not really that scary and most likely not that true, but such a fun book to revisit!