Over the past few years my friends have sort of run out of things to give me for Halloween. They know that this is one of my favorite holidays and they’ve gone through the usual gambit of stuffed animals, nick knacks, clothing and tableware so they started getting me books. Books for adults, books for kids … books that I’d never heard of. When Eric sent me a copy of “Spooky America” I didn’t know if this was for me or for the boys; it’s a level four reader in the “Step Into Reading” series [for newly independent readers] so it’s filled with great vocabulary building words, longer paragraphs and more in-depth stories. Even so, this book is something that they could have used years ago because they are all far above this reading level. Never wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I plopped down on the couch for a nice scary read.

Spooky America Four Real Ghost Stories

Since I am someone that loves the paranormal, horror flicks and things that go bump in the night I was really hoping that this book would give me a few cheap thrills. But as soon as I sat down, but before I opened the book, I told myself “It’s a kids book so don’t get all testy if it seems watered down”. With that in mind, I dove into the book. I’d never heard of any of the four places or events that were covered in the book so I had to do some post reading research to see if they were actually “real” events or recounts of events. It took a while but I did manage to find stuff on all four of the events that are covered in the book. Kudos to Lori Haskins for penning four awesome spooky stories that, without this book, I’d never known about. A word of warning; some of the stories might be a little too scary for younger kids so you might want to save this for All Hallows Eve to give them a wicked scare.


The Moocusser’s Horse
Monomoy Point, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
September 1660

Out of all four stories, this is the one that I wanted to do the most amount of research on. Since it’s the oldest story in the book I was sure that there would be a ton of variations of the story at various spooky and haunted websites. Out of all four stories, this one was also my favorite. It’s the dark tale of a pirate so ruthless that he worked alone so he didn’t have to share the loot with anyone else. He worked the shorelines tricking ships at sea into thinking there was a safe passage, in this case, Cape Cod. He would use lanterns and trot up and down the shore until a ship would crash, then he’d murder the crew and steal the bounty. Of course, for this to work, it has to be the darkest of nights. That’s how he earned the title of ‘mooncusser’, the one that cusses the moon. Fate dealt him a fitting hand when he greed got the best of him; he ignored the rising water while in pursuit of another wrecked ship and soon found himself stranded at sea, his only companion, a jet black horse leaving him to drown. As the tale goes, the mooncussers horse has appeared to sailors on the darkest of nights, leading them safely to the shore, vowing to never again allow another ship to crash.

Picky Aunt Pratt
Shirley Plantation, Charles City, Virginia
January 2002

Martha Hill Pratt must have been an extremely strong woman when she was alive, that’s the only way she could have a ghost that could command so much attention. Martha Pratt was born at the plantation but married and moved to England, the portrait of her hung in the first floor gallery for years, overlooking the family cemetery. In the mid 1800’s the family decided to redecorate and moved the painting to the attic. Night after night, family members could hear a tapping noise coming from the attic, puzzled they realized the only thing that was moved to the attic was the painting so they decided to move it to the third floor. The tapping continued so they tried the second floor. That didn’t seem to work either so they returned the painting to the first floor where it originally hung. After that, everything was quiet again. That is until 1974 when family members shipped the painting to New York City for a display of haunted goods. Martha didn’t like it, not at all; the painting rumbled and rattled until they decided to put it in a closet for the night. The family decided that Aunt Pratt had enough, they had the frame fixed [it was damaged when it was in the closet] and hung it back in it’s original location where it still hangs a little crooked to this very day. The last line sums it up perfectly, “It’s just a friendly reminder from Aunt Pratt… leave me alone!”

The Bony Bachelor
Buckskin Joe Mining Camp, Buckskin Joe, Colorado
March 1866

They say that true love never dies, in the case of J. Dawson Hidgepath he died before he found a true love. 1863 was the year that he arrived in Colorado; he had two things on his mind – finding gold and a wife. I guess he wasn’t the pickiest of men because he proposed to every woman he met, married or not. He met his end when hiking on Mount Bross, one wrong step and he tumbled down the hill. The residents of Buckskin Joe buried him in the local cemetery and they thought that was the end of the story. Little did they know, J. Dawson Hidgepath had other ideas. Shortly after his skeleton started knowing on doors of women in the town. Each time they would rebury the bones and each time he’d come back looking for a wife. Finally they tossed the bones in a bag, rode to a neighboring town and tossed them into an outhouse. As the legend goes the women of Buckskin Joe were never bothered by him again but the women of Leadville were. Every time they would go to the bathroom they’d hear a male voice asking them … “Will you marry me?”, of course the funniest part is that they’d hear the voice below them since he was inside the outhouse!

By Hook or By Crook
Easkoot House, Stinson Beach, California
July 1903

The last story in the book is a good one to scare the wee people with, especially if you add a little drama to certain parts. Alfred Derby Easkoot wasn’t always a mean old man; at one point in time he had a beautiful wife, a huge home and was proud of his accomplishments. He learned to sail even though he was missing a hand; when he lost his ship at Sintson Beach he decided to stay there. When his wife, Amelia Dumas, passed away suddenly the captain felt a part of himself die as well. He no longer welcomed people to his beach or opened him home to them. No, he turned into a bitter mean man. December 10, 1905 saw the passing of the captain and when his body was being carried out the coffin opened and his gold hook fell out. It washed out to sea before anyone could grab it … The house was quiet and still for almost twenty five year, then in 1930 lights started to shine in the old house and a eerie figure walked along the beach. On his knees he started digging in the sand saying “Where’s my hook? GIVE ME MY HOOK!”. People claim to see the captain around two o’clock each morning, almost the exact time when he died. Are the house and beach really haunted? The next time you are in the area, stop by in the early morning hours and find out for yourself!

The Bottom Line

All four stories are based on “actual” events or at least stories that have been pasted down from generation to generation. Since they are ‘fact based’ they aren’t as elaborate as modern ghost stories but that’s part of their charm and appeal. I learned a lot from the book and spent a lot of time trying to find additional information about the stories. If you have a child that likes to read ghost stories, this is a great pick that will lead them to ask a lot of questions. Outside of the entertainment, it is educational at the same time. Kids will learn about places, eras and be introduced to new vocabulary words. The illustrations by Vivian Diaz really add a lot of charm and warmth to the book, well, as much as you can expect from something that involves ghosts and hauntings!

You can read more about the series of books from Random House by visiting their link at www.stepintoreading.com.


As always, thanks for the read!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2005 Freak369


Other spooky reads books …

Halloween Fun Activity Book
The Vampire Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles
Halloween Tattoo Art
Little Halloween Activity Book
The Hallo-Wiener
Eyewitness Junior “Amazing Bats”
Halloween Night on Shivermore Street
Rookie Read-About Holidays: Halloween


Recommended: Yes