This image is the cover for the book Tales of Kentucky Ghosts

Tales of Kentucky Ghosts

“Vividly re-creates the context of storytelling in Kentucky in times past.” —Margaret Read MacDonald, author of Ten Traditional Tellers

A good ghost story can make your hair stand on end, your palms sweat, and your heart race. The bone-chilling collection Tales of Kentucky Ghosts presents more than 250 stories that do just that. William Lynwood Montell has assembled an entertaining and diverse array of tales from across the commonwealth that will keep you checking under the bed every night. The first-person accounts in this collection showcase folklore that Montell has drawn from archives, family stories, and oral traditions throughout Kentucky. The stories include that of the ghost bride of Laurel County, who appears each year on the anniversary of her wedding day; the tale of the murdered worker who haunts the Simpson County home of his killer and former employer; the account of the lost mandolin that plays itself in a house in Graves County, and many more. Tales of Kentucky Ghosts brings together a variety of terrifying narratives that not only entertain and frighten but also serve as a unique record of Kentucky’s rich heritage of storytelling.

“Lynwood Montell is truly an icon in the field of Kentucky folklore.” —James McCormick and Macy A. Wyatt, authors of Ghosts of the Bluegrass

“Lynwood Montell successfully reports on family stories, bizarre creatures, urban legends, classic country ghost tales, strange glowing lights, talking cats and so much more.” —Thomas Freese, author of Ghosts, Spirits, and Angels: True Tales from Kentucky and Beyond

“Sure to both entertain and chill its readers while also allowing them to consider their own supernatural heritage.” —Manchester Enterprise

William Lynwood Montell

The University Press of Kentucky