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Spooky Florida

“Take it down!” the captain roared.  “Take it down and bury it!”  He staggered away from the head on the pike, which reappeared before him, the woman’s dead eyes gazing defiantly into his own, her long gray hair blowing wildly in the wind. 

“Spanish Moss” from Spooky Florida
Spooky Florida by S.E. Schlosser
Spooky Florida by S.E. Schlosser

Pull up a chair or gather ’round the campfire and get ready for twenty-five creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences in the state of Florida. From the ghost car of Islamorada that is literally blown off a bridge along Highway 1, to the hermit of the Fort Myers swamplands who takes revenge on a pirate who murdered his son, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have you looking over your shoulder again and again.


Florida folklore traditions are kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser and through artist Paul Hoffman’s evocative illustrations. You’ll meet ghosts and evil beings, hear things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on the back of your neck on a warm summer evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and dreary 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

“Spanish Moss” from Spooky Florida

1.  The Antique Car – Islamorada
2.      Skyway – St. Petersburg
3.      In the Elevator – Coral Gables
4.      Flight 401– The Everglades
5.      Old Red Eyes– Jacksonville
6.      Diamond Ring – Pensacola
7.      The Wedding – Maitland
8.      Shell Mound – Cedar Key
9.      Ghost Baby – Orlando
10.    The Phantom Coach – Tallahassee
11.    The Cyprus Tree – Pensacola
12.    Dark Dreams – Miami

Part Two:  Powers of Darkness and Light

13.  Tailybone – Walton County
14.  Little Lucy – Putnam County
15.  Roses – St. Augustine
16.  The Watermelon Thief – Gainsville
17.  True Love – Key West
18.  The Hermit – Fort Meyers
19.  Spook Hill – Lake Wales
20.  Pink – Daytona Beach
21.  Spanish Moss – The Florida Coast
22.  Mystic Music – Manatee County
23.  The Choking Doberman – Tampa
24.  The Witch’s Curse – Fort Lauderdale
25.  Initiation — Miami