Several publishers kindly sent me books before Christmas but I’ve been really rubbish about mentioning them. This is because I would like to use a story out of each on Uncanny UK but because my Top 50 Most Haunted Places series is still ongoing I really shouldn’t delay any longer.
First up is ‘More Anglesey Ghosts’ by Bunty Austin, published by Amberley (ISBN 978-1-4456-0332-2). When I wrote ‘Haunted Wales’ (History Press), which highlights the pre-War ghost accounts from Wales, I mourned the fact that there were comparatively few spooky stories of any age from this beautiful and historic island. Although she is from the North of England originally, Bunty has lived on Anglesey for many years and has succeeded in unearthing a goodly number of intriguing accounts from friends and neighbour. Her first collection, ‘Haunted Anglesey’ was published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, a Welsh publisher which also published several of my books. Unhappy with the royalties she was getting from GCG, Bunty got in touch with me (I sympathised!) and recommended Amberley as a possible alternative for her second collection, which was published as ‘Anglesey Ghosts’ in 2009.
As is so often the case when one publishes a book of local ghost stories, more people have come forward and provided even more material, so now we are treated to a third collection of previously unrecorded accounts from Anglesey. The ghosts include those of a Roman soldier, an opera singer, a black cat, a sheep (!), a monkey and an eerily eyeless apparition. Haunted locations include a mansion, a church, a post office, a bus depot, the author’s own home, and most unusual of all, a nuclear power station.
Bunty is a professional writer and has an engaging style in which she is able to make the stories come alive. She is happy to give each story the space it deserves and uses plenty of first-person dialogue to give individuality as well as authenticity to the yarns. ‘More Anglesey Ghosts’ is highly recommended.
