[Book Review] Ghosts of Salem by Sam Baltrusis

Ghosts of Salem: Haunts of the Witch City is a really interesting collection of historic and paranormal tales.

I had previously read New Hampshire Book of the Dead: Graveyard Legends and Lore by Roxie J. Zwicker and LOVED every second of it. Unfortunately, this one was quite different, but it was still one I would definitely recommend.

Let's dive in!

Ghosts of Salem: Haunts of the Witch City by Sam Baltrusis

I'll admit, after Roxie's book, my hopes for this one were pretty high. I found it interesting that the author stated in the introduction; Ghosts of Salem is, in essence, supernatural– themed travel guide written with a historical lens. 

Keeping that in mind, I dove in.

It was immediately apparent to me that this is a book that would be better read in small chunks rather than all at once like I did because it is very repetitive. The first chapter is especially repetitive... specifically with explaining who Giles Cory is. 

The repetition was prevalent throughout the book, which really started to get on my nerves, along with how frequently the author used the word "Yep" usually followed by more repetition, or a semi-snarky comment. But the content was still super interesting, so I never thought about stopping. 

The file under notes at the end of each tale were pretty funny... for the most part. It worked semi-well with the random lines in each section that tried to lighten the mood a bit. For example, “File under: resident evil” was included after a tale about the Samuel Pickman House, where two people, living in the house at different times,  suddenly became very violent. However, these little bits weren’t added to each story, which was kind of odd, and sometimes they seemed a little too light for the content we had just read.

Overall, definitely a worthwhile read!

This is one that I can see myself picking up before my next trip to Salem to refresh my memory about certain buildings and locations. And of course, this is a great read for a dark, cold, and windy night!

Snag your copy here: