Books to Send Chills Up Your Spine

By Jen Schwartz, Briars & Brambles Books, Windham

Are you reading this snuggled in your cozy book nook with the heat nicely creaking? Listen again … is it really the pipes clanking? Or could it be a ghost? Welcome to Spooky Season in the Catskills which are notorious for being haunted. Washington Irving called the Catskill Mountains a “spellbound region,” with good reason. If you are feeling brave check out the “haunts” described in the following books:

Haunted Catskills by Lisa Lamonica: n Hudson, Maggie Houghtaling’s ghost haunts the Register-Star building, where she was hanged in 1817 for murdering her child—a crime for which she was later cleared. The ghost of a young Native American girl haunts Claverack Creek, where she threw herself into the water when her father forbade her to be with the man she loved. In Greenport, Peter Hallenbeck was murdered by his nephews in his home, where his spirit still lingers. Discover these and other eerie tales of hauntings in the Catskill Mountains.

Catskill Ghosts by Lynda Lee Macken: The hauntingly beautiful Catskill Mountains possess a supernatural quality. A long time haven for artists, musicians and writers the legendary highland landscape comes alive, not only in Hudson River School paintings but in mysterious ways as well. Once a popular destination for vacationers across the globe, area resorts lodged countless tourists, some insubstantial innkeepers and spectral guests still lurk in hotels, houses, and restaurants. The apparitions that manifest at area libraries and museums and those of murder victims, slaves and soldiers among others provoke haunting remembrances of the past. Catskill Ghosts chronicles the history of the mountain region and takes the reader on an otherworldly journey where the past overlays the present and offers clues to the great unknown.

Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley by Jonathan Kruk: Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is one of the best-known short stories of American literature. But what other myths lie hidden behind the landscape of New York’s Hudson Valley? Imps cause mischief on the Hudson River, a white lady haunts Raven Rock, Major Andre’s ghost seeks redemption and real headless Hessians search for the severed skulls. Local storyteller Jonthan Kruk tells these and other tales of the lore of the Hudson Valley.

Haunted Houses of the Hudson Valley by Lynda Lee Macken: Welcome to the haunted Hudson Valley where some ancient stone dwellings, church rectories, tourist hotels, military barracks, libraries, museums, mansions, and even a castle, claim a resident ghost … or two.

The Ghostly Tales of the Catskills by Karen Emily Miller: Did you know the ghost of a colonial soldier still haunts a home in Kinderhook? Or that the place where Washington Irving wrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is just as spooky as that famous story? Can you believe New York’s Catskill Mountains are home to a shape-shifting witch?

Welcome to October in the mountains where you have to wonder, is it the chill in the air or the chill up your spine?

Looking for your next spooky read? Visit Briars & Brambles Books at the corner of Route 296 and South Street in Windham. Jen or another member of her staff will help you pick out the perfect book for a chilly October night.