Ghost Stories from the American Southwest

American Storytelling

by Richard Alan Young, Judy Dockrey Young

Collects folklore about ghosts and other supernatural subjects told by people living west of the Mississippi and south of the Santa Fe Trail

Genres: Audiobook, Horror

192 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jason Harlow · Rating 2 out of 5]

This gets a 2/5 because I liked the Halloween vibes in the second story and one of the stories towards the end wasn't terrible, but otherwise this would be a 1. This is from the same husband-and-wife duo that wrote the Ozark Ghost Stories anthology (which I enjoyed) and they borrowed exact stories from that anthology. Normally I wouldn't be too annoyed with that, but those stories allegedly took place in Arkansas and Missouri, and these stories took place in New Mexico and other Southwest areas. I'm not sure if this was published before that or not, but it's just plain silly to repurpose stories rather than coming up with an entirely new geographic area for this book. Not to mention, most of these stories have goofy, humorous endings. This was not for me at all.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 2 out of 5]

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

The narration of these folk tales - some funny, some moralistic, none very scary - is so silly and over the top that it detracts from the material, which itself is just OK. One narrator sounds a little bit like Dracula, or maybe The Count from Sesame Street.



Free on Audible to subscribers (your results may vary)

[Susan Jo Grassi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for quite a while but never bothered to read it. It's a collection of tails by various story tellers told to the authors from the Southwest, i.e. Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. None of them are really scary and some, like the first one, The Pawpaw Lie, are quite funny. These are meant, I believe, to be told around a campfire. The book is a fun, quick read.

**The next to the last story had the name of the mansion and the ghost wrong. Obviously the young man telling the story had no idea where he worked.

[Lazariah Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book falls in the category of audio stories. This is a book that is great for young adults that enjoy books that keeps them on edge. This story is the horror category. I chose the horror category for this story so that students are able to hear the suspense in the narrator voice. This is a very short book. Me personally I did not enjoy this story because I did not feal the story was really a horror story. It did not give me the spooky feeling I was expecting. Reading the story was not interesting, but the audio made it a little better.

[Rebecca Hill]

Interesting collection of tales. I enjoyed reading through these. They would be perfect for the campfire, or for kids who are wanting to get a spooky story that will not scare them totally senseless.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, creepy, odd folk tales. Enjoyed this collection.

[Richard Gilliam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not scary, and way too short. Save your reading time for another one.

[Kaye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perfect if you want to go to sleep. Very monotone.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little campfire ghost stories.

[Zoe Croman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of radio drama-style ghost stories.

[Jennifer Barstad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short listen.

[GRivera23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't heard these stories before and genuinely enjoyed them. They reminded me of the stories my grandmother used to tell me when I was younger.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading stories like this as a kid, silly, fun, enjoyable. :D

[Reving · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://revingsblog.blogspot.com/2018...

[B. Buckinchere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Calhoun is the creepiest, and the most memorable tale for me. The one with the dead Spanish soldier who came back and danced with his former lover until she was dead herself was a close second.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing collection of supernatural folk tales from the American Southwest - a grab bag of short anecdotes that vary wildly in quality. Described as being intended for use by storytellers, but very little in the way of good storytelling material here - not much that's compellingly eerie or scary, either.