'Ghosts Among Us' proves light and eerie

The sensational style makes this book fun for Halloween.
By THERESA M. HEGEL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
"Ghosts Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters," by Leslie Rule (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $14.95)
What's Halloween without a couple of good ghost stories?
Leslie Rule, daughter of prominent true crime writer Ann Rule, quenches our thirst for the supernatural with "Ghosts Among Us," a collection of purportedly true stories about people's encounters with the spirit world.
There are chapters on haunted amusement parks, haunted toys, haunted bed and breakfasts and haunted hotels.
Some familiar locations
Many of the stories Rule includes take place in Ohio or western Pennsylvania. For example, the chapter on haunted amusement parks features several pages on eerie encounters at Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, Pa. At the park's Hotel Conneaut, an employee heard inexplicable music coming from the ballroom, and when she went to check on it, she saw a ghostly couple in vintage clothes waltzing across the dance floor.
Guests at the hotel's Steak on the Lake restaurant saw a phantom chef scribbling in the empty kitchen.
Rule also mentions a haunted carousel that used to operate at Cedar Point in Sandusky.
For years, there have been sightings of the spirit of a gray cat at the historic Fairport Harbor Lighthouse, located on Lake Erie about 25 miles northeast of Cleveland. In 2001, these claims "gained legitimacy because of a recent gruesome discovery." Workers installing air-conditioning vents found the mummified remains of a gray cat in a crawl space at the lighthouse.
The Pufferbelly Restaurant in Erie may be haunted by the ghost of a little boy. The owner of the restaurant has heard the sound of "little feet running when she is alone in the building" and a pop gun being fired.
Sensational style
"Ghosts Among Us" is written in a cringe-inducing, sensationalistic style, the literary equivalent of nails scraping a chalkboard.
The prose is liberally sprinkled with exclamation points and sappy descriptions. Plus, Rule frequently ends her vignettes with speculations, which seriously hamper the believability of the book's claims.
About the chef that haunts Hotel Conneaut, she concludes: "What was the phantom chef writing on that piece of paper? His secret recipe? A suicide note? Since the frightened girls were in too much of a hurry to stop and read, it will remain a mystery."
About a haunted doll that has the uncanny ability to relocate itself, she writes: "Did she float through the air as unseen hands carried her? ... If the dog witnessed this, he is definitely not talking."
Rule's tone is reminiscent of the narration of certain types of television shows. It's easy to imagine the stories recited by the likes of Leonard Nimoy or Robert Stack.
Don't expect any sort of depth (and especially not infallible proof of the existence of ghosts) from "Ghosts Among Us." The book, though entertaining, is strictly light and eerie Halloween reading.
hegel@vindy.com