Featured Book Review
'Footprints in the Snow' by James L. Choron © 2007 Zumaya Publication LLC ISBN 1-934135-06- 8 280 pages Paperback $14.99 (U.S.)
Okay, here is a head's up for the potential reader. IF you are of the few people who actually read the copyright page, disregard the fiction disclaimer on the top of the page. It slipped by the publisher's notice until it was brought to their attention. This book is NOT fiction. This is a collection of local ghost stories ("Tales of Haunted Russia" as the subtitle explains).
The author is an American who has resided in Mother Russia for nearly two decades and who has become familiar with the people and their attitudes towards the paranormal. The stories he has collected for this book are not "big name" stories - no Tsars or royal families, no high Party officials, just men and women (and occasional children) living their lives - or perhaps outliving their lives. They are not scary, but they certainly qualify as unusual.
Being a production of a smaller publisher, I wasn't surprised by a few errors, but one which stood out was on page 84: "If at first glance this story does not seem paranormal, please see the photo section." Oops, there are no photos in this book. The story itself has no paranormal elements, so I must assume that there should have been a photo which showed a ghostly figure.
There are a few accounts in this book which deal with individuals who were "silent powers" during the Soviet regime; a few men whose names were the cause of feelings of dread; but they form a very small part of this collection. In most cases, however, it is not those individuals who are the subject of the stories. More often it is their deeds which are recounted.
Most of the accounts in this book are the sort of family "ghost" stories almost everyone has heard at one time or another. That is what makes them ring so true. They are everyday occurrences. Okay, maybe not "everyday," but often enough that they are not threatening. Many of them are of individuals looking out for their descendants, or for those they were charged with caring for before their death, or for a particular location. There are no chain rattlers in this collection of stories.
I do not hesitate to recommend this to all readers. You don't need an over-riding interest in ghostly phenomena to enjoy these stories. And enjoyment is the keynote here. These stories will not frighten you, nor will they overwhelm you. If you want some enjoyable stories about "Haunted Russia", this book is for you.
Reviewer: Mike Gleason