I loved this book. We were in Savannah about 2 years ago and went on a nighttime ghost tour of the city. It was so great to read some of the same stories here as well as reading new ones. An entertaining and enlightening read! Not too deep so maybe not the best book for serious ghost enthusiasts, but great for kids and YA. ( )

This book is a guide to the haunted sites of Savannah, Georgia. It covers several locations with brief stories about the supposed ghosts and some general historical information about Savannah. While it lists an impressive number of haunted locations in Savannah, the stories themselves are very brief and not well written. It does contain some useful information, such as addresses, contact information and whether or not a site is open to the public. So, as a reference guide focused on the haunted locations of Savannah, it succeeds, but there are probably better resources one can go to for this information. ( )

This brief compendium of Savannah buildings and locations reputed to be haunted reads like a tour-guide’s script. The emphasis is on squeezing many haunted sites into one slim volume. If you are looking for a compact guide listing haunted sites to visit, this one briefly covers a large number of sites in an organized manner giving a black-and-white picture, short description, address, contact information, and whether open to the public. The writing is adequate for that task. If you are looking for entertaining, well-told ghost stories, well, that’s just not this book. ( )

I understand that when I pick up a book called “Ghost of Somewhere-or-other” I shouldn’t expect high quality literature. Even so, I found ‘Ghosts of Savannah’ a disappointment.

Usually such books fall into one of three categories depending on the author’s point of view: the folklorist, the parapsychologist or the journalist. The folklorist is interested in the stories people tell and doesn’t try too hard to convince the reader that the events really happened. The parapsychologist believes in spirits and doesn’t feel the need to convince the reader of what, to them, is obvious. The journalist, though, approaches the subject with a semblance of journalistic integrity and presents the ‘facts’ of the story thereby letting the reader make up his or her own mind as to whether there really is paranormal activity.

In Ghosts of Savannah, Terrance Zepke offers a fourth approach, that of a travel writer. She neither cares whether or not ghosts exist nor worries overly much about journalistic integrity. Her goal in the process is to get you to Savannah to see the Mercer House or the 17Hundred90 Inn or the Shrimp Factory or whatever other historic attraction. She tells us a little of the history of the building that may or may not be true (In one case she reports that one resident was “appointed to the House of Representatives by President Andrew Jackson”, a constitutional impossibility.) Then she throws in a few paragraph describing encounters that were reported by guests or employees, often removing the “reported by” reference leaving us with “the specter in a war uniform has been seen on many occasions”. Finally, she wraps up with information targeted directly at potential visitors including sidebars on local festivals and an entire chapter on visitor information.

Ms. Zepke does deserve some credit because, ultimately, she succeeded in what she set out to do. She did interest me in the idea of visiting Savannah and seeing some of the places she wrote about.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review copy of this book was obtained from the publisher via the LibraryThing Early Reader Program. ( )

Ghosts of Savannah will be of interest to both Savannah travelers and those curious about its reported ghostly activity. A brief introduction to the city and its layout is followed by some of the historic events that have led to Savannah's reputation as the most haunted city in America. Described are eighteen selected structures and their ghosts, as well as two cemeteries and several nearby locations. Each includes the address and visitor status, as well as websites, should one desire further information. Throughout, the book provides details that will be useful to visitors.
This book reads easily and quickly. I enjoyed it, as will someone with with a casual interest in ghosts or the city of Savannah. Serious ghost hunters looking for in-depth detail will not find it here. ( )