William Lynwood Montell (1931–2023)

Very shirt book filled with Kentucky ghost stories. Apparently is part of a series for adult literacy. Good read over all. Features tales that read more like folklore or scary stories to telk around a campfire. A ghost dog who haunts the man who killed him and his owner. A ghost that stops a couple from buying a haunted house. A headless ghost that goes by the name popular foot who dances for band members.

A brief, highly basic introduction, covering only rural house types and barn types. A bit outdated in analysis because it was first published in the mid-1970s, though the photographs of now-lost buildings are valuable (except the information provided about their location and date is often scant). Having studied vernacular architecture in grad school, I didn't learn much reading the chapter on homes - very general information, not necessarily specific to Kentucky. The barns chapter was more show more extensive, covering a large number of different subregional types and noting their prevalence in different parts of Kentucky and nearby states. show less

This is an oral history of the Upper Cumberland region that covers a number of counties in Tennessee and Kentucky. This was particularly interesting to me because three of my grandparents came from this region and a number of relatives still live there. Montell includes many of the interviews he collected in the '70s as well as a map, photos, and folklore of the region. Additionally, there is a great deal of history that I never knew about: steamboating on the Cumberland, logging, the local show more "gangs' creating mayhem through the Civil War, and the livestock drives. show less

I love to read 'true' ghost stories and I assumed that was what I would find in this book. It's wasn't at all what I expected. Some of the stories might be considered 'true' but most were old urban legends or old stories like the "Big Toe" stories that mom told me as a child. Instead of just one story like this, there were several. There must be 3 or 4 stories about the same thing in this book. I finally started skimming through the book. You get stories like the girl hitchhiker. When the show more guy goes back later for his jacket he passes the cemetery and sees it on a head stone...or he goes to her parents house and....you get the idea. There is also a few versions of the boyfriend who gets killed while the girl waits all night in the car for his return. If you are familiar at all with ghost stories and urban legends then forget this book. It is poorly written and, except for a few stories, very poorly written. show less