Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Like all short stories compilations, there are good ones and bad ones.

I loved the mix of history and ghosts. It's a nice way to learn more about Minnesotas culture and ways.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Regional ghost stories and the stories behind them. Interesting reading but not stories to share around the campfire, which is what I thought it would be. Andy Weeks does a great job of bringing the historical events that generate the folklore to life.

I was so disappointed with this book. It focuses much more on history and lore than ghosts. I expected more campfire spooky stories and less history class.

Well, this was a disappointment – I can see it having some reasonable merit for completists, and for those keen on building a library concerning Minnesota, but then I see other people saying similar things to what I'm about to opine. It's both good and bad news that they agree with me.

First off, this has a very overwritten feel. Take the second story, where we learn about the history and ownership of a lighthouse long before learning about anything spooky. This is something the local tourist board would appreciate much more than the ghost story fan. Things progress from there in quite the woolly fashion – there is little said, because there is little to be said, about the woman in grey, other than that she might exist; and the hauntings at an old TB sanatorium aren't identified, just vaguely mentioned in amongst the other journalism offered about the place. A playwright's bequest to the world is so vague and up-in-the-air as to barely be worth the reading.
Weld Hall is haunted – but said university buildings are haunted by what?

Indeed the second chunk of this wholly consists of small chapters where the gist remains "well, this might be an urban legend", "something might be here but we don't know for sure". Why all the insecurity – and it's not about the author's conviction over each and every one of these cases, it's because the story is probably a drunken Chinese whispers of a haunting. With none of the substantiation of a paranormal book where the stories have something to base themselves on, and with none of the artistry to turn any of this even past one on the 'spooky' dial, this was a let-down, and it certainly wasn't only time constraints that meant I quit this surprisingly early. A generous two stars.

DNF at 30%. The writing is wooden and awkward, and there are too many out-of-place author interjections (like the "it's so sad when people jump off bridges rather than waiting another day for their lives to improve" tangent I just read). I wanted spooky stories, and this is more of a history lesson by a teacher who doesn't know how to be interesting.

What the...? This was not at all what I expected. I own a couple of "True Ghost Stories of _____" type books, and usually they consist of a list of regions/cities and their supposedly haunted locations. This book does not do things this way; instead, the table of contents simply lists story titles. I'm sorry, what?? I don't care about the title of your story, I want to know what city it takes place in!
Also, as for the ghost stories themselves, I don't know if I would call them as such... this is more like a general history lesson with a bit of "oh, and also that lady once saw a ghost" thrown in. The paranormal stuff is almost an afterthought. It's also written in a way that's neither atmospheric nor very detailed, so it doesn't pull you in. I don't know what kind of reader the author had in mind; with that kind of title, I believe the focus should have been more on hauntings and such than just plain history.
I also wasn't all that keen on the author's personal opinions and convictions, so I found myself getting fed up with this book a lot and putting it down; there were times when I wasn't sure I wanted to finish it. I think a bit of outside editing would have helped a lot.

This is a fascinating read. I enjoyed learning more about Minnesota and its ghostly traditions. I may someday be able to visit some of them.

This book was an enjoyable and easy read. The stories are really good and perfect for late night reading.

I always enjoy a good scare and some were really creepy and all were well written.

The settings of different cities were a good choice and each haunting tale set the scene of ghost and spirits trapped in places that had a few historical facts attached.

Well researched and a good night time read.

This is a really entertaining book filled with bite-sized stories - perfect for picking up and putting back down.

I thought I would love this book but it was a miss for me. I live in Minnesota and know of lots of places that are rumored to be haunted, and hoped to find more to visit. I found myself frustrated with this book though.

Firstly, the author is not from Minnesota. He has done research, read books and talked to people, but he doesn’t have personal experience or connection to these places. Secondly, it reads like a history lesson with paranormal stuff thrown in, not like spooky ghost stories. Thirdly, it leaves out all the haunted places I know of, and doesn’t give good information on the ones it lists. The Calumet Hotel, for instance, has an entire guest book for people to write down their ghost stories from their visits. But it’s been closed by the city for a few years in a dispute so you can’t visit now. I can tell you cool stories from our visits (even the creepy doll in the cradle outside one of our favorite rooms) but the author just interviewed the current owner who didn’t pass on any of the hundreds of stories other people have shared. The book also doesn’t mention that the city of Pipestone itself has haunted tours on weekend nights in the summer, or anything about all the other supposedly haunted places in pipestone.

The last reason I can’t recommend the book is that it’s not arranged or titled by city. They are loosely grouped by region but then the titles are story titles so you can’t look for locations you know. Why not at least put location names in the titles like Bemidji or Windom? I had to scour each story to even see where it was. You basically read a historical synopsis of something and at some point it will mention locations and say some hearsay or quote another book about something rumored to have happened there. It ended up just not being a good fit for me.

I read a digital arc of this book for review.

I liked the enthusiasm of the author for the topic. The book is written in a chatty, down-to-earth way - full of anecdotes and hearsay - as if a local in a cafe/bar is telling you the ghost stories. Some of the folklore was surprisingly recent, the ghosts relating to alleged events in the late 20th century. The book would probably have most appeal to people who know Minnesota well enough to be familiar with some of the haunted locations, but as an outsider, I still enjoyed it.

A couple of favourite quotes:

"Kelley calls the spirits who remain at the Palmer House the hotel's 'unregistered guests'."

"Savannah noticed the cupboards where she had stored linen would open on their own... Savannah has a gift and knew the repeated opening of the doors - it happened on several occasions - was more than a faulty hinge. Someone was communicating with her, and so she asked aloud: 'Where would you like me to put the towels?'"

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Lots of good stories. Each within the state of Minnesota. Good information about the history of each story, which is interesting. Looking forward to other states.

Regional ghost stories and the stories behind them. Interesting reading but not stories to share around the campfire, which is what I thought it would be. Andy Weeks does a great job of bringing the historical events that generate the folklore to life.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First, let me start this off by saying I love the supernatural/paranormal. LOVE it. I was super excited to dive into this because of the topic of ghosts. I read the book thinking I was going to be getting something akin to other paranormal stories I’ve read before and I was mistaken.

This book was definitely put together with a lot of love and care. It’s easy to tell the author knows their history. Many of the facts regarding the paranormal were from the 1800’s until modern day. I enjoyed that aspect of it but I think what got me was the mention of the rich history and the paranormal stuff was just an afterthought. I was so let down. The book itself is well written and I would definitely pursue other works by the author. Maybe it’s me for having high expectations and this book didn’t hit that bar.

I was hoping this would pay off - I love ghost stories, I'm from Minnesota, and I thought I'd enjoy this. However, every story was just a summary and kinda glossed over everything. Not sure how he could completely skip over Duluth's Glensheen Mansion

I love a good ghost story, have been on multiple ghost tours across the country and living in Minnesota, I am always curious to learn about new ones that I haven't heard before. However, this is not the book to read about them. It seemed like most of the ghost stories were a short summary that glossed over anything real. A lot of tangents to explain things that didn't need to be explained. There is also no room for your personal religious beliefs in a ghost story book. Also, if you're writing about Minnesota ghost stories, how do you skip over Glensheen Mansion in the Duluth section?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
As an Australian who has heard of Minnesota and knows nothing of the state, it was very interesting to learn about Minnesota and the history behind this state. But I picked this book up on the promise of ghost stories. So, I was very disappointed when this read more of a general history book than a 'big book of Minnesota ghost stories'.
The 'ghost stories', if you can call them that, were a quick summarised version of things people had experienced at these places, which the author put down as 'folklore', or just fun stories towns told. I was promised ghosts and got very little ghosts.
It dragged, and I really had to push through. Probably should have DNFed, but I wanted ghost stories, which it didn’t follow through on. 
The history was interesting, but if I wanted a history book on Minnesota, I would have picked one up.
2.5

Author Andy Weeks bravo

I was excited to read this book then I saw the index and list of stories and I thought oh boy this book is going to be really slow and boring. I was totally wrong.

I have read other Minnesota ghost story books before and they do not even come close to the detail and information this book has. It will be an honor to have this book in my collection.

I have lived in Minnesota all my life and I have only heard of a handful of these places but I never knew the stories on why or what happened in these places for them to become haunted or have ghosts.

Some of these stories are sad and then others are really sad and might get you in the feels.

Have you ever thought that if you visit a haunted location that a spirit could attach to you and when you visit another haunted location or any location for that matter that spirit is left there and a different one can attach to you. Kind of give their spirit a free ride to a different location. Or every where you go a new ghost or spirit attaches to you. I don't know how I would feel about that

The book itself is very interesting all the way down to the last word. I was amazed by how much information there is about each place in so much detail from when the location was created and or when it came about, to what happened there and why it could be haunted to what is there now.

Andy Weeks the author put detailed descriptions on what each haunting encounter is. For instance I thought that a scene that replays itself over and over was a time loop nope its called residual ( a piece left behind)

Did you know that Minnesota has at least three companies that their specialty is handling haunting cases and to see if they can find anything to support the clients claims or not.

Who knew there is a paranormal group in Duluth not me.

I am a firm believer that the Quiji board is not a good thing to mess with but I also didn't know along with that Tarot cards, Witch craft could also do harm if you mess with them and have no idea what you're doing. Bad juju is not a good thing.

The Big Book of Minnesota Ghost Stories by Andy Weeks. I love a good ghost story collection, but this just didn’t work. It was as if each ghost story was just a summary after having to read pages of historical reference to the locations first. It was very disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Globe Pequot, and Andy Weeks.