Kathryn Tucker Windham (1918–2011)

This collection of the ghost stories culled from many story-telling sessions around the State of Alabama by the wonderful [author:Kathryn Tucker Windham|76363] can easily be read in a single setting, but why hurry? It's a delightful collection of ghost stories in the classic folkloric tradition; tales passed down from person to person over the generations until multiple versions exist. Are they true? Maybe, maybe not, but is that really the important thing. I think it gives us insights, if show more not into the lives out ancestors lived, at least into the live we wished they lived. Was Henry Wells killed by lightning as some people tell, or was he a victim of Judge Lynch as others believe? Was every gallant young Confederate's death in battle a seed that grew into a tragic haunting? Probably not but it sure makes thinking about it interesting.

The only thing that would make these stories more entertaining is if we could hear them told by Ms. Windham herself, perhaps while sitting around a fire on a dark and stormy night. Sadly she has passed on so that it a pleasure I will never experience. Well, that's not entirely true. Thanks to YouTube, many of these stories can be listened to by the author herself. Of course, you'll have to arrange the fireplace yourself. show less

Forgive the alliteration but Kathryn Tucker Wyndham’s collection of reminiscences from her youth reads like a soothing salve for troubled times. Wyndham, a journalist and professional storyteller who passed away in 2011 at age 93, had the remarkable ability of being able to take her listeners, or readers as the case may be, back through the years to a time that exists now only in the memories of an ever-dwindling number of people. The title, A Serigamy of Stories, includes a word I doubt show more anybody who hasn’t read the book has ever heard. It isn’t in any dictionary but, according to the author, was made up by her mother’s family and basically translates to ‘a whole heaping helping of’. And that is just what it is, a whole heaping helping of stories and memories from her youth. The stories are not the long-winded tales with complicated plots that one reads in most short story collections. These are memories, sometimes little more than a few paragraphs in length, that fill the reader with a simple sense of home, of family, that seems way too distant in this modern era. This is a great book to just sit and rest your mind with.

FYI: I studied folklore in college and am fascinated by the storytelling tradition, especially the ghost story. While this book has no ghost stories in it, the author was an amazing teller of ghost stories and I strongly suggest you go to YouTube and enter the name ‘Kathryn Tucker Wyndham’. You will be in for a treat. show less

Can I just tell you that I LOVE Kathryn Tucker Windham. Hers were the first ghost stories I ever read and had the distinction of being the only ones that earned my Mum's approval. This book was in my house growing up and was a favorite of mine. Ms. Windham has an amazing talent for making history come to life with her stories; I remember more history from her books than I do my Alabama History class. Maybe it was the touch of mysticism that found its way into her stories. Each story is show more well-written and vibrant and her talent shines through. show less

Wonderful, if rambling, collection of stories about Alabama and some of its people, including the woman hit by a meteorite, a few more fortunate folks, and a few dastardly ones indeed. The pictures are also nice, but they ALL need captions, not just a few. The stories about "The War Between the States" are not overdone, and who know that General George McClellan's sister was the wife of an Alabama plantation owner?