Haunted Harbours: Old Ghost Stories From Nova Scotia: Book Review

• Author: Steve Vernon
• First Published: 2006
• Genre: Folklore
• Rating: ★★☆

Have you ever stood on a pier or wharf, inhaling the fresh ocean breeze, and wondered to yourself, "Gee, I wonder who haunts these waters?" Well, if you're traveling to Nova Scotia then look no further! This book is packed end-to-end with ghost stories from all over the province, including some of the surrounding islands.

As much as I hate horror movies -yes, because I'm a scaredy-cat- I do love a good ghost story, so this book to me, as a native Nova Scotian, held so much promise. That promise fell a bit short. Spooky!

What did I enjoy about this book? It was an honest trip around the province, full of rich history and varying locales. From colonial and privateering times to the more recent 20th century, there's plenty of history for everyone. It paints Nova Scotia, which has an admittedly short recorded history in comparison to other areas of the world, as the place to be if you wanted a new life in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

What were my qualms with the book? The overall writing of them. Much of what was written was just facts about the time era and the place with a quick sprinkle of spooky at the end with very little meat and bones. Each story was only around 5 pages but, I honestly would have appreciated having less stories with more attention and detail being added to each story, doubling or even tripling their lengths. With the information he did have, he even repeated himself frequently about the facts, which was wholly unnecessary as the stories were so short that no details were forgotten.

Additionally, him boasting multiple times that he's a storyteller by birthright and profession without following through with something that I would consider quality storytelling, got a little old. Not once throughout this book did I think he handled any of the stories exceptionally well, although there were a couple that I did find somewhat entertaining, even if they were not long enough for me.

Overall, I thought this had great potential, I just wish he'd focused on fewer stories and added more details and spookiness to them since they are supposed to be ghost stories. While this wasn't my favourite, if you like folklore and want to learn a bit more about Nova Scotian history, this would be a suitable read.

Have you ever read about your local folklore? Do you like to read spooky stories? Would something like this be of interest to you?

Cheers!