Ghosts of the Ozarks: A Collection of Ghost Stories From the Ozark Mountains

by Bruce Carlson

So, Lilly Woods was not to meet her neighbors, .........at least not in this world. And, what of Carl Williams? Does he, yet today, journey through time to lose his life yet again and again 'neath the thundering hooves of that herd of cattle south of Eureka Springs? Somewhere an old Indian who never quite accepted the tools of modem living watches over the church garden near the little town of Mansfield. Does that garden, in the still of the night, get tended now and then by an old man with a turtle shell hoe? And throughout our beautiful Ozarks, things happen yet today ...... things born of the passions, loves, and lives of folks from generations ago. Oh, but if these mountains and hills could speak!!

158 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2004

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for books like these - short collections of stories that mix local history, folklore, and storytelling. The stories are fun and engaging, and scratch that "spooky itch" that many casual readers of ghost stories have. The strongest part, though, is how well Carlson retains the voice of the Ozarks. Many of the stories sounded like something my grandparents would have told me around the dinner table, a feeling that made reading the book extra enjoyable.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, but too thoroughly and academically examined to be a truly entertaining book. In 1929 a group (maybe KKK, maybe local moonshiners) allegedly brutally murder a young hobo as he walks home from an unsuccessful visit to a justice of the peace to get married to his 16 year-old girlfriend. The girl is brutalized for a few weeks and warned not to tell anyone. The sheriff doesn't start investigating until a year later. During the trial, a man claiming to be the hobo shows up again, apparently having run off. Is this justice or a fight between local moonshiners for power? Or revenge against a powerful, maybe too powerful family? Was the hobo who showed up at the trial the same one who courted the girl? She says no; others say yes. In the end, nobody knows.