The Big Book of Canadian Ghost Stories.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

If it’s a dark and stormy night … put down this book immediately. Not that there’s anything wrong with occasionally having one’s hair stand on end without the benefit of styling gel, but the non-stop horror and terror delivered by this massive compendium is best saved for the soothing light of day.

Colombo has built an unshakable reputation as Canada’s master collector of tales about all things supernatural. Since 1979 he has been publishing these strange tales for a total, to date, of 35 collections. This omnibus of nearly 200 accounts includes many reprints from these earlier works as well as some previously unpublished ones. All have a Canadian connection, either in setting or narrator. In terms of time period they stretch from First Nations’ ancient tribal stories to the age of email. Many are reprints of stories first published in 19th-century newspapers.

In structure these “short works of imaginative fiction” come in two basic variations: the “as told to” story and first-person accounts (“memorates”) given by people who experienced the supernatural event or encounter.

Canadians, it seems, have a very active “haunted heritage” with the full scope of spookiness represented. This includes a variety of settings—haunted houses, ships, trains—and a full cast of players: ghosts, spirits, devils, demons, ghouls, spectres, wraiths, et al. Poltergeists, psychics, spiritualists, even aliens put in an appearance.

A substantial introduction, brief comments to ease the reader into each section, and frequent notes on sources help the volume keep one foot on the shaky ground of skeptical reporting, while the other is firmly planted in the field of entertainment.

Enter with heart pounding and pulse racing, prepared to experience “a thrill and a chill.”