Chicago Ghosts

Chicago Ghosts by Rachel Brooks

2007

Weight: 16 oz

Method of Disposal: Lending Library

Halloween 2020 seems like a good time to give away any ghost books I can find.  A pandemic may keep some people inside, looking for things to do that are frightening and fun.  The up or downside to these Chicago books is that they take place in another state and so, as you read them, it does not always feel like the ghosts are hanging out right behind you, watching you, while you read about them.

This book was much more what I am looking for in a collection of ghost stories that the children's book I gave away the other day.  The stories were eerie and had just enough details that would wrench your gut.  I think I realized that, for me, a good ghost story needs to be tied enough to something real and tragic that is tangible.  I am not as into the mysterious ones where no one knows who or what is haunting a place.  I am scared when they are tied to a real history.  That being said, they make me sad.  I hate to think of people dying and families missing them.  If there are a lot of details and no real evidence of the person that lived, like an Urban Legend, that is the best for me because I can be creeped out, sad, attached, but not worried about the pain someone is being caused by the story if that makes sense.

It also seems like a lot of these stories came about from deaths in the 1930s.  I am interested to read a book now on what eras had the most ghost stories and why they had them.  Were they more common when the world was less violent and there was no internet for sharing?  Did horrible things stand out for years and years then and get cemented into frightening tales that were told over and over?  Now, we here so much horror that we just move on and forget.  Or, do we have more ghost stories now because any old person from any old town can go online and share a tale about their poltergeist or ghoul?

All in all, I am not actually someone who is typically into ghost stories.  Sometimes, I just buy these little local books when I am traveling because you can learn unique tidbits about the city, it is something a little different to look at while you are there, and it is always fun to learn a little about a local author.  They are generally easy to find, and I can usually convince someone I am traveling with to listen to one or two ghost stories, but I can never convince them to want to hear a short story, a historical essay, or a full fledged book on the city.  They will listen to a ghost story or a short magazine article, and I like to share what I read.