Florida Ghost Stories

by Robert R. Jones

Stories of ghosts and spirits and tall tales of strange happenings fill this volume. If they don't give you goose bumps and make your hair stand on end, at least they will offer you food for thought. There are two stories of Indian legends from Silver Springs, stories of hauntings in the little town of Micanopy, an encounter with a specter at Fort Clinch near Fernandina, the tale of a ghost in the Castillo in St. Augustine, the legend of the choir boy who sings from beneath a church swimming pool in Jacksonville, and many more. Enough to keep you up at night reading—if you dare!

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Jones tees off with a book above par. He lays out the intent of telling ghost stories he has collected in north Florida. Then each story begins with some basis written as fact slowly reveling the ghost aspect. The stories are initially familiar to me. But as the book goes along the tales get longer and include more and more dialogue. It becomes obvious that a lot of literary license was taken throughout the book. There are definitely many ghost stories included that have been recorded over time. But all have dialogue imagined by the writer. Most all of these read more as fictional short stories than a recording of actual Florida ghost stories that could be believed.

The above complaint has more to do with packaging than content. The stories are written in an amateurish fashion. But tales are mostly good ones.

Plenty of areas are brought up that are little known to most Floridians. Areas like Archer, Worthington Springs, etc. rarely get mentioned in ANY book of Florida.

Bottom line: I recommend the book - as a a set of fictional short stories. 5 out of 10 points.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always so fun to read ghost stories and folk tales about the places you’ve stepped foot in.

[Lacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

More or less enjoyable, and some stories that are even believable . . . and then you get to the one that is a beat-for-beat retelling of "Somewhere in Time" set in St Augustine. All the way down to the coin-from-modern-time-pulls-the-guy-away-from-the-girl bit. Ruins the whole thing, especially since a couple of the stories seemed pretty plausible. Especially the Rosewood story, which has its basis in completely verifiable historical fact . . . le sigh.

[Brady Hawkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read a collection of ghost stories set in the town I live in, and I was hoping to have a similarly enjoyable experience with this book, however I did not. There were only a few stories that actually interested me whereas the rest seemed downright unbelievable or just boring. I also found that the writing was a bit subpar. The way the stories were presented was very cut and dry which takes away from the charm of a traditional ghost story.

[Heathir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of ghost stories was an interesting, fun read. Highly recommended for anyone living in Florida who enjoys reading ghost stories with a bit of local color and history - the entries about St. Augustine's Castillo de San Marco were especially spooky! Check it out, if you dare

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book of ghost stories and urban legends centered in the region of northern Florida. Stories ranged from a choir boy who haunts a swimming pool in a Jacksonville church, to a phantom "mermaid" that helps save people who are drowning. Many of the stories deal with time warps whereby the people in the stories found portals to the past and met historical figures; in some cases their meetings altering the course of history. Who knows? I thought "The Last Scream" was the scariest story, "The Old Fort" was the least believable, "The Big Scare" was the most humorous and "The Enchanted Tree" was maybe the most interesting.