To usher in the “spirit” of the Halloween season, I’m reviewing one of my favorite books by author Shirley Bahlmann. Most widely known as a writer of pioneer stories, Shirley has collected eerie tales of strange happenings and combined them into this compelling and otherworldly book of short stories.
Read about the rocking chair that kept its rhythmic motion even though no one sat in it. Or how about the young couple desperately trying to find a doctor to deliver their first baby in a snowstorm, and the kind man who came and took care of them. When the husband went to find the doctor to thank him for services rendered, he found that the doctor had been dead for a year and resided in the cemetery.
I can’t forget to tell you about the headless horseman, or the man who took his wife’s dead body on a train ride, or the cat no one could kill.
Shirley possesses a unique talent – that of taking the merest shred of a historical fact and bringing it to life with dialogue and characters, details that ordinary history leaves out. As she hunted through old journals and scribbled notes as people told her of their experiences, she caught hold of the atmosphere these stories contain and imbued the words with life on the page. You will find yourself chilled, thrilled, and entertained as you read this well crafted book.
Are these instances the doings of angels or demons? Is there a logical explanation or is it all the machinations of the supernatural? The author offers no resolution, because she has none. The people who shared their stories with her have none. It’s up to the reader to decide for themselves if there is or is not a reasonable solution to the mysteries.
Oh, did I mention there’s a story about the disembodied voices that followed the teenager across the bridge? Or . . .
(This book was published in 2004 by Cedar Fort.)
Related Blogs:
Interview with Shirley Bahlmann