Slowly, two eyes burned themselves into the paper, and a wide grinning mouth with the shattered remains of teeth took shape. “Vengeance,” the mouth whispered.
-Vengeance from Spooky California
Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready for thirty creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences in California. Set in the Golden State’s big cities, oceanside towns, rugged mountains, and sparsely populated deserts, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have readers looking over their shoulders again and again.
California’s folklore is kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and in artist Paul Hoffman’s evocative illustrations. Readers will meet the Queen of Death Valley, cheer on the ghost who haunts his claim-jumping murderer, look out for a blood-hungry rolling head, learn about the sea monster of Monterey Bay Canyon, and hear otherworldly voices from the Pacific Ocean–or simply feel an icy wind on the back of their necks on a warm California evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma’s, this is a collection to treasure.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part One: Ghost Stories
1. Milk Bottles – Yuba City
2. The Spook of Misery Hill – Pike City, Sierra County
3. Vengeance – San Francisco
4. Llorona – Riverside
5. Haunted House – Fort Bragg
6. Innocenca’s Revenge – Santa Barbara
7. Lady in Lace – Pebble Beach
8. Betrayed – Hollywood
9. Joaquin’s Head – San Francisco
10. Ghost Ship – Mojave Desert
11. The Bells – San Diego
12. Jake’s Camels – Sierra Nevada
13. Voices of the Dead – San Jose
14. The Lady of Mugu Rock – Point Mugu State Park
15. The Lonely Grave – Nevada County
Powers of Darkness and Light
16. The Hen and Her Chicks – Carmel
17. Juan Stops Flirting – Los Angeles
18. The Princess’ Curse – Death Valley National Park
19. The Corpse Walker – Sierra Nevada
20. The Serpent – Lake Tahoe
21. The Devil and the Prisoner – Los Angeles
22. The Guardian – Yosemite National Park
23. May I Carry Your Sack? – San Francisco
24. The Candle – Los Angeles
25. Tommy Knockers – Placerville
26. To Your Health – Sacramento
27. Evil Eye – Monterey
28. Big Foot – Willow Creek
29. The Devil’s Pet – Elizabeth Lake, Los Angeles County
30. They Are Going to Hang You For This! – San Diego
