Yet another STRANGE entry in Brad Steiger's series of spooky Forteana for the Popular Library, and a transitional volume that bridges the Gothic atmosphere of "moss-covered crypts and mournful sighs floating up circular stairwells" with our own "jet-paced atomic age" of Bigfoots, UFOs, and sundry spectral fires. Modern readers would be entranced by Richard Harris' haunted experiences in the famed Tower House, and by Steiger's cutting edge updates on "ghostly" Bigfoots across America which include the Yeti of Fremont, Wisconsin, a monster who made his mark after an article in Argosy by Ivan T. Sanderson.
Per the modern focus, the longest chapters are devoted to Bigfoot, some recent UFO developments, and Spontaneous Human Combustion. Once again Garth Haslam's website for Anomaly Info proves invaluable, with a thorough rundown on frequently cited cases of SHC including several from this volume. Sadly, many prove less than spontaneous, including Maybelle Andrews' perfectly explicable combustion in a dance hall which was mangled beyond recognition through Fortean retellings.
This title is available to read and download at archive dot org.
Table of contents:
1. There's a Little Ghost in Richard Harris' House (5)
2. The Man Who Runs a Sanctuary for Homeless Ghosts (8)
3. Silver Cliff's Ghostly Miners (12)
4. The Rambunctious Ghost That Messed Up Milady's Chamber (16)
5. The Ugly Witch in the Backroom (19)
6. The Ghostly Exhibits in Rome's Purgatory Museum (22)
7. Ghost Monsters of the Midwest (26)
8. The Priest Who Angered a Prank-Playing Ghost (34)
9. A Terrible Tale of a Bouncing Head (39)
10. Can Mediums Speak to the Dead? (44)
11. The Ghost That Smothered a Child (46)
12. The Haunted Room That Swallowed a Judge (48)
13. The Mystery of Spooklights (53)
14. The Sound of Phantom Oarsmen (58)
15. Ghosts of Southern California (61)
16. The Father Who Came Back to Say Goodnight (64)
17. A Dead Priest Administered the Last Rites (66)
18. The Malignant Spirit That Possessed a Three-Year-Old Girl (69)
19. The Ghost of Pope John Who Cured a Dying Nun (72)
20. She Gave Her Wedding Ring to a Ghost (75)
21. Mysterious "Ghost" Blasts and Phantom Winds Around the World (81)
22. Ghosts of Falcon Lair (90)
23. Michigan's Lively Farmhouse Ghosts (92)
24. Ghost in a Calico Dress (95)
25. The Phantom Nazi Officer (97)
26. Lady Ghost at the Old Covered Bridge (99)
27. A Haunted Apartment in Racine, Washington (100)
28. Deadly "Ghost Flames" That Consume Human Flesh (103)
29. The Schoolmaster's Lady Ghost (119)
30. Ghosts on College Campuses (121)
31. UFOs - Ghost Ships From Other Dimensions (127)
32. Detroit's Strange House of Ghosts (132)
Popular Library, 1972
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