Tom Ogden

The author is a very good storyteller. He's taken old ghost stories and urban legends and redone them or retold them as the cover states. Broken into three sections the first section focuses on the greater Chicago area. Which of course includes Resurrection Mary. Then a tour across the US going from West to East. Which has more from the Hollywood area than anything else, Valention's dog, Marilyn Monroe. He jumps way across the country and there's stories about the Gettysburg battlefield. show more Another about Edgar Allan Poe. Then he makes the leap to foreign countries. One about the Highland Vampire or another where a man who has visited Egypt believes he has fallen under the Mummy's Curse. All in all fun. Good campfire type ghost stories. show less

I love ghost stories and Old Hollywood. Throw the two of them together, and I am so there. I could hardly contain my excitement when I discovered a copy of Haunted Hollywood: Tinseltown Terrors, Filmdom Phantoms, and Movieland Mayhem in the Library’s catalog.

The narrative is divided into three sections, as indicated by the title. Odgen repeats stories that he’s heard/researched from the silent film stars like Mary Pickford; Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.; and Thelma Todd through modern day show more where some the studios and actors’ hangouts are reportedly haunted.

There is nothing creepy or interesting about these stories. My first clue should have been “retold by Tom Odgen.” They aren’t even well enough written to provide a narrative arc.

BUT I did learn a lot of Old Hollywood history, which is why I give it 2 out of 5 stars. show less

In Ogden’s book, the author brings together more than twenty of the scariest stories of ghosts, hauntings, and supernatural events on or near American highways. Spooky…a must for all lovers of the paranormal.

FYI Review - This book contains stories of and directions for reaching the following trails & sites of interest:
Pacific Northwest
-Indigenous Spirits
-Bigfoot
-The Phantoms of Fort Bragg
-The Watchers
The Cascades the Sierra Nevada, and Death Valley
-The Underground City
-The Spirit Orbs
-Terror in Truckee
-The Hunchback Horror
-The Chimeric Children
-The Stanislaus Siren
-Natural Wonders
-The Lake Spirits
-The Phantom of Moro Rock
-Death Valley Days
Bay Area
-The Waterfall Wraiths
-The Shadow People
-The Dawn show more Falls Vampire
-The Ellis Island of the West
-The Waiting Witch
-Murder in Memorial Park
-The Sinister Sisters
Greater Los Angeles
-The Queen of Elings Park
-Cabrillo Returns
-The Leaper
-The Witches' Lair
-The Haunted Estate
-The Missing Children
-The Materializing Mansion
-Hollywoodland
-The Ghosts of Griffith Park
-The Hungry, Hungry Ghosts
-The Haunted Forest
-The Sturtevant Deons
-Spirited Sprites
-The Angeles National Fret
-The Shadow of Thompson Creek
Inland Empire
-Canyon de los Indios
-The Riverside Revenant
-Big Bite
-The End
-Gram's Ghost
Greater San Diego
-The Whisperer
-Denizens of the Desert
-The Vallecito Visions
-The Cuyamaca Cryptid
-The Forest Phantoms
-The Omen
-Elfin Entities
-The Snake Maiden
-The Invisible Interlopers show less