MADreads

The ghost in the house goes, “Boo! Boo! Boo!”

March 15th, 2009 Molly - Central

Hey, it’s me again, your resident reviewer of books about ghosts, spirits and/or otherworldly phenomena. I am thinking of taking my reviews on the road and starting a side blog, “Molly’s MADreads from the Other Side.” But first I’ll have to check with my editor, Jane, OK?

I’ve got some fun new books to share with all y’all. I was talking with my adorably hip hair stylist about the new book Ghosts of Madison, Wisconsin by Sherry Strub and she told me that I should check out the companion book Milwaukee Ghosts, because those ghosts were better! I asked her how that was possible (aren’t all ghosts cool?) but she claimed that the Milwaukee ghosts were better than the Madison ghosts because they appear more often during the day. I couldn’t resist checking on this and according to these books it seems to be true. Madison ghosts most often appear at night. The Milwaukee ghosts appear more often during the day, and not only that, one of them eats bread and jam.

Both books are entertaining, but I am going to focus on the Ghosts of Madison. There are lots of stories and photos of easily recognizable places like Mickey’s Tavern on Willy Street or the Lake View Sanatorium on Northport (duh, that building looks totally scary and any place with an adjacent cemetery is bound to be trouble) but the editing could have been a little tighter. There are LOTS of typos, and if you are a stickler for accuracy, you might find a few of the errors distracting. For example, the UW is consistently referred to as UWM (that is Milwaukee, folks, just Google UWM and you will see what I mean) and the House on the Rock is not a Frank Lloyd Wright creation. But the writing is so friendly you can’t help but be charmed. When describing a haunted Subway sandwich shop in Dodgeville, the author describes how a couple of employees have seen a skinny woman in a dress that looks approximately fifty years old standing by the register, “She was wearing a frown. Hungry perhaps?” This book is full of stuff like that. Friendly, folksy, funny, not too scary.

The best part of the book (and I am seriously geeking out over this, I am a librarian after all): it is fully indexed. And there is a selected bibliography. And a Madison Area Resources section. And a full-length interview with members of Madison Researchers into the Paranormal. And a section called “What Kids Think about Ghosts.” Whenever a ghost story references a location that has historical status or tours, the author also includes contact information for the site. I cannot praise that enough. If you are interested in local ghost stories, don’t miss this book. If you are interested in ghosts who hang out during the day, visit Milwaukee.

Entry Filed under: Nonfiction