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Spooky Florida: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore Retold by S.E. Schlosser and Illustrated by Paul G. Hoffman Review

 


If you are looking for a great book with some of the best ghost stories from across Florida you are definitely going to want to add Spooky Florida: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore Retold by S.E. Schlosser and Illustrated by Paul G. Hoffman to your growing TBR list.

Review

 Spooky Florida has some of the best stories from across the state of Florida. The book is perfect for people who like to get to the meat of the story with short chapters and perfectly curated with just the right amount of creepy to keep you up at night. Each story gives you the location of each event in case you decide to venture out for your own ghost hunt to see if you have a similar experience.

 I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review Spooky Florida! If you love the paranormal like I do, this is a must read for reference about some of the best legends, hauntings, and ghost stories the state of Florida has to offer. I was born and raised here in Florida and have grown up hearing so many of the ghost stories and local legends. Florida has more ghost stories than you can imagine. Practically every town has their own stories and legends along with some pretty incredible ghost tours.

 If you love a good scare this is definitely the book for you. S.E. Schlosser takes us across the state with retelling of some of the best spine chilling accounts Florida has to offer from St.Petersburg, Coral Gables, The Everglades, Pensacola, Miami, Maitland, Sanford, Lake Wales, and more.

 One of the first things that I noticed was that the book is broken down into two parts. Part One; is the Ghost Stories and Part Two; is the Powers of Darkness and Light. Part One- Ghost Stories features 15 ghost stories that will have you looking over your shoulder every time you hear a bump in the dark and sleeping with all the lights on.

This book is  a terrifying good time for lovers of the paranormal genre and ghost hunters. Part Two- Powers of Darkness and Light have longer tales that have been passed down through the generations that are equally as good as the ghost stories. 

This book will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions from scared, to joyous, to heartbreak and every thing in between. The stories have been retold and written in such a way that the people and places come alive from the pages of the book. 

 Some of the most memorable stories I enjoyed were the Antique Car , Flight 401, Little Lucy, Roses, the Floating Head, and the Choking Doberman. The Ghost Baby story was one I had not heard before and let me tell you it absolutely terrified me which is saying something since I love a good ghost story.

 Page Count: 242

 About the Book:
 Pull up a chair or gather around the campfire and get ready for 33 creepy tales of eerie happenings, ghostly hauntings, and other strange occurrences in the state of Florida. From the Antique Car of Islamorada that is literally blown off a bridge along Highway 1, to the Hermit of the Fort Myers swamplands who takes revenge on a pirate who murdered his son, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have you looking over your shoulder again and again. Florida folklore traditions are kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S.E. Schlosser and through artist Paul G. Hoffman’s evocative illustrations. You’ll meet ghosts and evil beings, hear things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on your back of your neck on a warm summer evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and dreary night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma’s, this is a collection to treasure.

 About the Author: 

S.E. Schlosser has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of “let’s pretend” quickly built themselves into full-length tales acted out with friends. A graduate of Houghton College, the Institute of Children’s Literature, and Rutgers University, she created and maintains the award winning website Americanfolklore.net where she shares a wealth of stories from all fifty states, some dating back to the origins of America. Sandy spends much of her time answering questions from visitors to the site. Many of her favorite emails come from other folklorists who delight in practicing the old tradition of who can tell the tallest tale.

 About the Illustrator: 

Artist Paul Hoffman trained in painting and printmaking, with his first extensive illustration work on assignment in Egypt, drawing ancient wall reliefs for the University of Chicago. His work graces books of many genres- children’s titles, textbooks, short story collections, natural history volumes, and numerous cookbooks. For Spooky Florida, he employed a scratchboard technique and an active imagination. 

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