The Rural Voice, 2002-12, Page 49lore
Tales
U" `usual
true' nystnies pull unrl presenl
Diane Madden
Book Review
Eerie tales from close to home
More
Tales of
the
Unusual
Diane
Madden,
The
Brucedale
Press
Softcover,
99 pgs.,
$9.99
Reviewed by Bonnie Gropp
Reading Diane Madden's More
Tales of the Unusual while curled up
in an easy chair in the twilight of a
gloomy fall evening, the reaction was
initially skeptical. But, like ghost
stories around a campfire, the
eeriness crept up on me.
Told in chatty prose, Madden's
collection of folklore and mysteries
from Grey and Bruce Counties are a
mix of the unlikely and the disquiet-
ing. While the author herself admits
in one of the chapter introductions
that much of folklore begins with a
slight stretch of the truth which is,
over time, embellished, only the die-
hard skeptic will fail to see its charm.
The open-minded should experience
at least on some level an occasional
nervous disquiet.
Humans react differently to
different things. Thus while the
reader may scoff at one "tale" the
next could have them looking over
their shoulder.
True to its name, the book is not
just a collection of ghost stories but
of the strange and unusual from the
past and more recent times. One
chapter tells of a suspected UFO
sighting between Wiarton and Sauble
Beach in 1990.
The High Water Mark recalls a
phenomenon which occurred in
Stokes Bay area in early May of 1952.
There are stories of murder,
predictions, curses and hauntings as
told to Madden by those who were
there or by those who have heard the
legends.
Adding to the book's entertain-
ment value is its geography. Names
of locations are familiar landmarks.
For those that are not, a rough map at
the beginning of the book acquaints
the reader with their proximity to
better-known locales.
Madden has explored these areas
of Grey and Bruce talking to its -
residents, seeing museums and
cemeteries to learn about, as this
book is subtitled, the "true" mysteries
past and present.
In her foreword the author
explains that her enjoyment of ghost
stories began as a child and has
continued into adulthood. It was for
this reason that she decided to seek
out the stories in More Tales of the
Unusual and its prequel, to share her
"taste for lightly spooky 'true' tales
of the unusual".
At less than 100 pages, and if
you're willing and able to ponder,
"What if?" Tales is an easy, fun read
that will raise an eyebrow one
minute, goosebumps the next.0
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DECEMBER 2002 45