Haunted Canada: True Ghost Stories. Pat Hancock. Markham, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2003. 106 pp., pbk., $7.99. ISBN 0-7791-1410-8. Subject Heading: Ghosts-Canada. Grades 4 and up / Ages 9 and up. Review by Meredith MacKeen. **** /4

excerpt:

People keep on talking about some strange and scary events long after they happen. What happened to Peter MacIntyre was so terrifying that some people still talk about it more than 200 years later.

MacIntyre was one of the hundreds of Highlanders who sailed from Scotland in the late 1700's in search of a better life. Like many others, his destination was Prince Edward Island, known back then as St. John's Island..... One evening, MacIntyre decided to head over to the general supply store where local men often gathered for a chat. Just as he had hoped, he found a few of his neighbours sitting around the wood stove, talking about work and sharing family news. At one point, according to the story folks still tell, a man named Ben Peters brought up the business of the old French cemetery nearby. Many people already believed that the spirits of the dead weren't exactly resting in peace there. So, when Peters said that he had seen a big fiery ball of light drifting over the graveyard, no one was too surprised.

This collection of ghost stories from across Canada will appeal to all readers of such stories. The sampling includes poltergeists, ghost trains, phantom ships, strange, unexplained noises that disappeared when the corpse was properly buried, the man who becomes scared to death literally in the grave yard, ghostly activities that occur just on anniversary dates and all the usual fare for ghost stories. These stories are simply told and usually contain either a photo of the building or persons involved or pen and ink sketches of spirits and ghouls.

     In the introduction, the author speculates about the existence of ghosts and concludes that probably he doesn't believe in them, but he is sure that some "ordinary, sane, truthful people have seen, felt and even smelled some very strange things." He continues that "there are true stories about ghosts and haunted places, in the sense that people who told them over the years were describing strange and scary things that they saw." Without using the local dialects, he simply records the basic details of the story very effectively..

     Books of this sort are enormously popular for any group of readers. This collection of very short stories are straightforward and easy to read for students with at least grade 4 level reading skills. Assorted communities, large and small in every province and territory, have been included. This collection could be the start of a story teller's repertoire and is recommended for school and public libraries.

Highly Recommended.

Meredith MacKeen is a teacher-librarian at Glen Stewart Elementary in Stratford, PE.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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