The author apparently did a lot of research and claims to have had a personal "ghostly encounter" but the book was not very spooky. I believe there are four ghost stories from Herkimer County but it is not one of the counties that is shaded on the New York State map on page iii.

A couple of the incidents in the book puzzled me. On page 5 a librarian is decorating a Christmas tree in the public library and notices a man watching her. The apparition is described as "dressed casually" and "solid like any other human being." So it is not entirely clear how she knew that he was a ghost. She didn't run screaming, she just continued decorating the tree. It sounds like he was just some confused old guy who had wandered in off the street. Libraries are full of them.

On page 69 she claims that Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY, is haunted "Much like the ghostly goings-on at several other ancient New York forts ..." I don't know about the other forts but I do know that Fort Stanwix was built between 1974 and 1978. It wasn't there when I was growing up. The original Revolutionary War fort may or may not have been in that exact spot. If there are ghosts there they were probably victims of the quack doctor who had his own private hospital on that site before they built the fort.

On page 73 we are told that you can tell that the Lynch House in Syracuse is haunted because the earlier residents' cats slept under the bed, which is "behavior that is totally out of character." I know of any number of cats, my own and those belonging to friends, who sleep under the bed. All of our houses can't be haunted. I'm pretty convinced that my house is not haunted and there are two cats under my bed right now. The third is up in the cupola.

I would recommend [b:Things That Go Bump in the Night|218368|Things That Go Bump in the Night |Louis C. Jones|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1258478973s/218368.jpg|211424]. ( )

The author apparently did a lot of research and claims to have had a personal "ghostly encounter" but the book was not very spooky. I believe there are four ghost stories from Herkimer County but it is not one of the counties that is shaded on the New York State map on page iii.

A couple of the incidents in the book puzzled me. On page 5 a librarian is decorating a Christmas tree in the public library and notices a man watching her. The apparition is described as "dressed casually" and "solid like any other human being." So it is not entirely clear how she knew that he was a ghost. She didn't run screaming, she just continued decorating the tree. It sounds like he was just some confused old guy who had wandered in off the street. Libraries are full of them.

On page 69 she claims that Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY, is haunted "Much like the ghostly goings-on at several other ancient New York forts ..." I don't know about the other forts but I do know that Fort Stanwix was built between 1974 and 1978. It wasn't there when I was growing up. The original Revolutionary War fort may or may not have been in that exact spot. If there are ghosts there they were probably victims of the quack doctor who had his own private hospital on that site before they built the fort.

On page 73 we are told that you can tell that the Lynch House in Syracuse is haunted because the earlier residents' cats slept under the bed, which is "behavior that is totally out of character." I know of any number of cats, my own and those belonging to friends, who sleep under the bed. All of our houses can't be haunted. I'm pretty convinced that my house is not haunted and there are two cats under my bed right now. The third is up in the cupola.

I would recommend [b:Things That Go Bump in the Night|218368|Things That Go Bump in the Night |Louis C. Jones|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1258478973s/218368.jpg|211424]. ( )