Ghost Stories of the Maritimes, Vol. 2

Kimberly J. Frail is a Digital Librarian for the Government of Alberta.

Vernon Oickle’s latest contribution to the Ghost House imprint is
divided into seven sections: Haunted Houses, Haunted Places, Public
Hauntings, Wandering Women, Local Legends, Maritime Mysteries, and
Forerunners and Premonitions.

Many of the tales, such as “The Great Amherst Mystery,” are well
known and have been recorded, researched, and published by other
paranormal or folklore enthusiasts in various other collections. For
example, there is a certain degree of overlap with renowned folklorist
and folksong collector Dr. Helen Creighton’s Bluenose Ghosts. However,
ghost stories are part of an oral tradition and, as such, tend to be
altered slightly as they are passed between generations. As a result,
several versions of the same tale often exist and thus different print
publications of these tales are often useful for comparative purposes.

One of the main strengths of Oickle’s collection is that relatively
modern tales are interspersed with timeless local legends. In addition,
his selection includes tales that are set in a variety of locations,
from urban centres to isolated fishing outports to small island
settlements. For example, one story involves strange happenings in a
women’s residence at Dalhousie University in Halifax, while another
relates the misfortunes (including the disappearance of a 10-person
crew) that befell a sailing vessel in the mid-19th century.

The tales are presented as they were told, without footnotes or
interpretative remarks. The author credits his sources in both the
acknowledgments and the sections that introduce the individual tales,
but he does not provide a formal bibliography or a list of works cited.
Therefore, this collection of Maritime mysteries and eerie anecdotes
would be most appropriate for a public library or a personal collection.