Forgotten Tales of Vermont

Forgotten Tales

by William M. Alexander

There's more to Vermont than maple syrup and covered bridges. A book about Vermont's history will likely bring to mind such topics as Abenaki Indians, the Green Mountain Boys and the state's famed covered bridges, but Forgotten Tales of Vermont takes readers far beyond traditional histories to uncover little-known stories from Vermont's quirky past. Who knew that students from Castleton Medical School moonlighted as grave robbers until they were caught hiding Mrs. Churchill's head in a haystack? Or that an Egyptian mummy once turned up in Middlebury and is now buried at the local cemetery alongside the town's founders? Stories such as the Willoughby Lake monster and Slipperyskin, the bear that terrorized Lemington, are sure to bemuse, baffle and surprise even Vermonters who think they've heard it all. Culled from newspapers, books and journals, William M. Alexander's fascinating tales will entertain and inform readers for generations to come!

156 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2008

Reviews

[Sarah]

Having recently read "It Happened in Vermont" by Mark Bushnell, I thought it might be fun to explore some more local history and folklore. Several stories overlapped but were told in a different style. These tales were all short (many just one or two paragraphs long) and fun to share aloud with my family on a leisurely Sunday evening at home. Their focus rested mostly on ghost stories and other supernatural rumors. I enjoyed them well enough, though a few exposed pure, one sided gossip, and I preferred the tales with more concrete history, evidence and detail. Nevertheless, I could see this landing on a coffee table and attracting a little amusement from time to time. 2.5 stars.

[Mick Schulz]

A fun and short read. It’s a book comprised of short excerpts and stories about Vermont folklore. Learned a lot of cool things!

[Amy]

copycat of Joseph Citro's books

[Lydia Burris]

There are -some- interesting entries in this book, but the writing is very awkward, sometimes to the point of annoyance. Many of the 'tales' were merely a quick undetailed reference to a mostly uninteresting -thing- that just happened to take place in Vermont. The idea of this book had a lot of potential but was very unfulfilling. Maybe it could inspire some deeper research into some of the places mentioned.