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Creek Walking
From the award-winning author, storyteller, ghost hunter, and paranormal investigator Tally Johnson comes a fantastic new short story collection of Southern humor, horror, Southern Gothic style, and stories all told in the inimitable style of a true son of the South. Creek Walking is a Southern Literature love letter to Pat Conroy, Flannery O'Conner, Thomas Wolfe, William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams. Johnson's words dance like sunshine off the crystal clear waters of a Carolina creek and burn like cheap moonshine out back of the barn at Granddaddy's house. This collection of Southern Gothic fiction is a must-read for anyone who's ever driven a tractor down a highway, eaten watermelon with a pocketknife, gone fishing and eaten their catch for dinner, or sat around a campfire picking songs and telling stories with nothing but the crickets and the crackling of the pine kindling for background noise. Ranging from humor to Southern Gothic horror to philosophical contemplation, Creek Walking is a welcome addition to the storytelling tradition of the South.
162 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 3, 2020
Having seen Tally at numerous conventions and readings, I can tell you that Tally Johnson, as a person, is a riveting and entertaining story teller who is well versed in ghost hunting and The South. As an author, however, I feel that this anthology falls a bit flat.
Several of these shorts started our rather promising and pulled me in, as a reader, but then quickly unraveled and lost me. This happened more than a few times, and I started to feel rather disappointed by this collection of tales.
BUT THEN you get to a few real gems and all hope is restored. The 5th in this installment was such a good old fashioned ghost story. I felt the thrill of the girl going to abandoned locations with this new, mysterious man she just met and fell in lust with. I mean, talk about excellent first date material! I'd be into it. It was creepy and well done and exactly what I wanted. And then straight into the 6th story, which is another home run. A Summer of Youth and young boys doing what boys do. Very reminiscent of "Stranger Things" or the new "I.T." installment; It feels very vintage to me, but I am hoping this sort of wildly adventurous spirit still exists, outside of electronics. I felt like I was right there with those kids, getting into mischief and mayhem and being led to ominous depths. But then it was back to several stories that didn't interest me, seemed sort of jumbled and sometimes a bit TOO painfully Southern. This collection DID, however, end on a high note, as it was another excellent ghost story and I was glad to finish this book feeling satisfied.
The point of all that rambling is that when Tally puts his mind to writing a truly good ghost story, he nails it. I feel it is when he tried venturing into other outlets and story lines that it just sort of lost me. If he puts out a shorter book of "classic camp fire ghost stories" then I am definitely there for it.
Several of these shorts started our rather promising and pulled me in, as a reader, but then quickly unraveled and lost me. This happened more than a few times, and I started to feel rather disappointed by this collection of tales.
BUT THEN you get to a few real gems and all hope is restored. The 5th in this installment was such a good old fashioned ghost story. I felt the thrill of the girl going to abandoned locations with this new, mysterious man she just met and fell in lust with. I mean, talk about excellent first date material! I'd be into it. It was creepy and well done and exactly what I wanted. And then straight into the 6th story, which is another home run. A Summer of Youth and young boys doing what boys do. Very reminiscent of "Stranger Things" or the new "I.T." installment; It feels very vintage to me, but I am hoping this sort of wildly adventurous spirit still exists, outside of electronics. I felt like I was right there with those kids, getting into mischief and mayhem and being led to ominous depths. But then it was back to several stories that didn't interest me, seemed sort of jumbled and sometimes a bit TOO painfully Southern. This collection DID, however, end on a high note, as it was another excellent ghost story and I was glad to finish this book feeling satisfied.
The point of all that rambling is that when Tally puts his mind to writing a truly good ghost story, he nails it. I feel it is when he tried venturing into other outlets and story lines that it just sort of lost me. If he puts out a shorter book of "classic camp fire ghost stories" then I am definitely there for it.
April 23, 2019
A walk through southern storytelling, with fourteen tales steeped in ghosts and the uncanny. While most were set in the south, one was about English family lines and their ghosts and another a fantasy world with a man doing his storytelling.
Standouts among the stories for me were:
#3 - Some Hunts End Better than Others - Loved it, beginning to end. Most like modern urban fantasy, which likely has something to do with my preference.
#6 - Creek Walking - This one, I didn't care it took so long to meander to the story. I loved every inch of the walking along the railroads, ducking in the alley behind houses connecting garages, climbing, biking, trading cards, ... everything. In fact I was disappointed when it came to the head of the creek and the story ended. Sometimes you don't care about the plot, you just want to hear the author's voice.
Problems
Opening Story - The "Modern Myths and Mad Men" captured the storytelling voice, but no action - needlessly boring. I would have enjoyed it better later in the collection. To start things off for the book, it nearly ended them right there. Starting with #6 (Creek Walking) would have been better.
Petered out - Many stories ended with the stream diving below ground suddenly. The ending was unsatisfying or confusing.
Women are there for one thing - This problem lost the stars, because otherwise Creek Walking delivers everything promised. Every story's main character was male, and the only reason for women (often called wenches) to exist was for a night's entertainment. Those few married men either cheated on them or were cheated on. Now I understand for the period pieces, a woman's place in history was more property than partner - but every.single.story? Modern or historic? There just ain't much of anything here for a girl to enjoy - like oatmeal-raisin cookies with one raisin each, and the hard type of raisin, more stone than chewy.
In conclusion - Like ghosts or ghost-hunting? Enjoy fish stories, tall tales, and similar legends and yarns? Get at least the first four stories under your belt before making a decision on the collection. Otherwise, pass.
(Read through Kindle Unlimited)
Standouts among the stories for me were:
#3 - Some Hunts End Better than Others - Loved it, beginning to end. Most like modern urban fantasy, which likely has something to do with my preference.
#6 - Creek Walking - This one, I didn't care it took so long to meander to the story. I loved every inch of the walking along the railroads, ducking in the alley behind houses connecting garages, climbing, biking, trading cards, ... everything. In fact I was disappointed when it came to the head of the creek and the story ended. Sometimes you don't care about the plot, you just want to hear the author's voice.
Problems
Opening Story - The "Modern Myths and Mad Men" captured the storytelling voice, but no action - needlessly boring. I would have enjoyed it better later in the collection. To start things off for the book, it nearly ended them right there. Starting with #6 (Creek Walking) would have been better.
Petered out - Many stories ended with the stream diving below ground suddenly. The ending was unsatisfying or confusing.
Women are there for one thing - This problem lost the stars, because otherwise Creek Walking delivers everything promised. Every story's main character was male, and the only reason for women (often called wenches) to exist was for a night's entertainment. Those few married men either cheated on them or were cheated on. Now I understand for the period pieces, a woman's place in history was more property than partner - but every.single.story? Modern or historic? There just ain't much of anything here for a girl to enjoy - like oatmeal-raisin cookies with one raisin each, and the hard type of raisin, more stone than chewy.
In conclusion - Like ghosts or ghost-hunting? Enjoy fish stories, tall tales, and similar legends and yarns? Get at least the first four stories under your belt before making a decision on the collection. Otherwise, pass.
(Read through Kindle Unlimited)
September 5, 2017
Almost as good as listening to this author tell stories live. Tally Johnson knows the South, knows people, knows language. Hilarious and heartfelt, his voice is one I look forward to reading over and over again for many years to come. I suspect he's just getting started.
November 9, 2021
Just Okay
Most of the stories are hardly good old fashioned ghost stories and most of them are certainly unsuitable for children or teens thanks to foul language and sexual situations.
Most of the stories are hardly good old fashioned ghost stories and most of them are certainly unsuitable for children or teens thanks to foul language and sexual situations.
November 16, 2018
I enjoyed the ghost stories although a little more Southern stories than I prefer I’m a Northerner by birth. I enjoyed one of the stories towards to end the most about the house of Lowell St.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews