S. E. Schlosser - Spooky Southwest: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore

S. E. Schlosser has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of lets pretend quickly built themselves into full-length stories acted out with friends. A graduate of the Institute of Childrens Literature and Rutgers University, she created and maintains the website AmericanFolklore.net, where she shares a wealth of stories from all fifty states, some dating back to the origins of America. Sandy spends much of her time answering questions from visitors to the site. Many of her favorite e-mails come from other folkorists who delight in practicing the old tradition of who can tell the tallest tale.

Artist Paul Hoffman trained in painting and printmaking. His first extensive illustration work on assignment was in Egypt, drawing ancient wall reliefs for the University of Chicago. His work graces books of many genresincluding, childrens titles, textbooks, short story collections, natural history volumes, and numerous cookbooks. For Spooky Southwest , he employed a scratchboard technique and an active imagination.

ALSO IN THE SPOOKY SERIES BY S. E. SCHLOSSER

More Spooky Campfire Tales

Spooky California

Spooky Canada

Spooky Colorado

Spooky Florida

Spooky Georgia

Spooky Illinois

Spooky Indiana

Spooky Louisiana

Spooky Maryland

Spooky Massachusetts

Spooky Michigan

Spooky Montana

Spooky New England

Spooky New Jersey

Spooky New Orleans

Spooky New York

Spooky North Carolina

Spooky Oregon

Spooky Pennsylvania

Spooky South

Spooky South Carolina

Spooky Southwest

Spooky Texas

Spooky Virginia

Spooky Washington

Spooky Wisconsin

Spooky Yellowstone

The train rumbled around Jake as he adjusted the throttle. The night shift was always the toughest, in his mind. A man was not meant to be working through the night hours. It was unnatural. His wife sure didnt like it. They had argued about it just before Jake left the house to go to work. He frowned, thinking about it. He loved Miranda, but now and then she drove him crazy.

He stretched a bit and yawned, trying to stay alert. The train had driven through Timpas a few minutes ago and was on its way to Thatcher. It was not a bad stretch of track, and there was no better train in the entire Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. But the night run was very boring. The darkness obscured the scenery, except for a few trees and stones that appeared in the headlights.

Jake was new to this run. It was quite a popular shift with the other engineers, which surprised him. Normally, the men avoided the shifts through the dead of night, preferring daylight or early evening hours. For some reason, the Timpas run was different.

Jake was deep in thought. He was startled back to the present by a movement on the track ahead. He strained his eyes against the darkness to either side of the track. Then he gasped as the lights picked up the figure of a beautiful woman with long red-gold hair and wonderful blue eyes. She was standing near the tracks. Too near! He sounded his horn to warn her away. She would be killed! Why didnt she run?

As he reached for the brake, he realized that there was something odd about the way she appeared in the headlights. She was wispy somehow, almost translucent. Suddenly Jake realized that the lights of the speeding train were shining right through her. His hand froze on the brake. She was a ghost!

The beautiful woman stepped into the center of the track, facing down the train. She was laughing. The train rushed right at the ghost, and Jake closed his eyes instinctively, not wanting to see the train hit her.

When Jake opened his eyes seconds later, the beautiful ghost was in the engine cab next to him. The scent of roses filled the air. He stared at the ghostly vision, bewitched by her beauty. All thought of driving the train left him. All he could think of was the gorgeous ghost. She came toward him with an enticing smile. Then she wrapped ghostly arms about his neck and kissed him. He let go of the brake and tried to wrap his arms around her, but she disappeared as soon as he moved. He looked back outside, but all was darkness save for the lights on the engine. She was gone.

Dazed and disappointed, Jake finished the run to Thatcher in a trance, almost forgetting to stop at the station.

Jake decided not to tell anyone about the ghost, fearing for his job. But he was plagued by curiosity. Finally, he confided the story to a close friend who was a fellow engineer. To his surprise, his friend had heard about the ghost before. The ghosts appearance on the train was by no means uncommon. She always appeared on that particular stretch of track after dark, beckoning to the men on the railroad crew with a bewitching smile. Sometimes, said his friend, she would come right onto the train. No one had been able to discover who the woman had been in life.

Better not tell Miranda youve seen her, his friend advised. Jake didnt need to be told twice. Miranda was the jealous type.

Jake didnt know whether to be glad or sorry when he found out he had been permanently assigned to a different run. In the end, he decided that it was for the best. After all, sooner or later, Miranda was bound to hear about the beautiful ghost on the tracks. If he were still assigned to the run when she heard the story, she would make his life miserable.

And if Miranda ever found out that the ghost had kissed him... Jake shook his head. Hed be deader than a doornail. Jake knew he was lucky to be off the hook. Still, he felt rather sad. That ghost was quite a kisser!

Tess Grant stood beside the grave long after the rest of the family had gone back down the hill. Ben, her eldest son, had urged her to leave with him, but she had shaken her head.

I need to be alone with your Paw, she told him. He nodded and left her alone.

The grave diggers were shuffling impatiently a few yards away, wanting to finish the job and get home. But Tess wasnt ready to leave. She gazed down at the flower-strewn casket in the ground, thinking about the years she had spent with her husband. Henrys eyes, she remembered, had popped right out of his head the first time he had seen her. It had taken him a few weeks to get up enough gumption to talk to her, because he thought a classy dame like her wouldnt want to associate with a dirt-poor farmer. She recollected the gentle way he had taken her hand in front of the minister and the solemnity with which he had promised to love her for the rest of his life. And she would never forget the amazed look on Henrys face the first time he had held baby Ben in his arms.

Tess chuckled suddenly, recalling the many times Henry had dragged her away from her chores to inspect his latest invention. Henry considered himself another Ben Franklin. Unfortunately, none of his inventions ever worked. He had nearly blown them all to kingdom come more than once.

Of course, life with Henry hadnt always been a bed of roses. He had to have the last word, no matter if he were right or wrong on a matter. And he always insisted on wearing two pairs of underwearhe called them drawersevery day, even in the heat of summer. It made twice as much work washing up. Tess shook her head over that memory. She had fussed and fussed at Henry, to no avail. He still wore his two pairs of drawers every livelong day. At least she had gotten the last word about those blasted drawers of his. Shed had him buried in his best suit and one pair of drawers, like a normal Christian. She could take comfort from that.