Book Review for The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories

Title: The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories

Author: Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Published 2014 by Globe Pequot

Amazon Purchase Information

It’s been over a year since we lost the awesome author and paranormal researcher, Rosemary Ellen Guiley. I don’t know why, but she’s been on my mind quite a bit these past few months, and it made me realize that I never reviewed her book, The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories!  Although Rosemary was an internationally-known author and her research covered a huge span of paranormal topics, she seemed to spend a good deal of time here in the Mountain State, and wrote extensively about the rich, spooky history of West Virginia. 

The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories is an extremely thorough look at ghosts and hauntings throughout the state.  Each section is devoted to one of the eight geographic regions, as designated by the West Virginia Department of Commerce, and each section is packed with a variety of ghostly tales and legends.  Some of the stories are well known and have been passed down in West Virginia’s ghost lore for many years.  Others were tales that even I have never heard before.  Some of the stories have a great deal of historical documentation to back them up, while others fall more in line with composite legends that may or may not be based on REAL people or true historical events, but yet have cemented themselves in our paranormal history.  Rosemary is careful to distinguish which stories are more fact, and which tend to be more legend.

As with all of Rosemary’s books, this one is very well written.  It’s an entertaining read, as well as an informative one, as she not only shares her personal encounters as well as those of the witnesses…but also gives an excellent historical background on the stories. West Virginia is such a unique location, and there are so many aspects that make it a great place for the paranormal to thrive.

Being that this book is so comprehensive, I’d definitely suggest adding it to your own collection of paranormal literature, and if you’re only going to purchase one book dealing with West Virginia hauntings, this would be a good choice.  It’s a wonderful resource for finding new locations to investigate, research, or just to visit when you’re in the area.  At 276 pages, there are definitely PLENTY of locations to check out! 

I had a lot of fun going through this book and have added some locations to research further for my blog.  But, my biggest surprise was reading in the back of the book, under the Acknowledgements page! It is such an honor to be mentioned in this book. I have loved and respected Rosemary’s work for so long, and it is really special to know that my work helped shape this collection of West Virginia’s ghost stories.