First published 1996
Ten supernatural tales emerge from African American folklore and history, each designed for telling as daylight fades. The stories span generations and settings, from plantation fields to modern neighborhoods. A young girl encounters the spirit of a runaway slave. A boy faces consequences for disrespecting his elders when ghostly visitors arrive. Children discover that old cemetery legends hold terrifying truth. Each story carries the weight of ancestral wisdom and cultural memory. The tales blend supernatural scares with moral lessons, revealing how the past reaches into the present through unexplained encounters. McKissack weaves together elements of oral tradition with contemporary storytelling, creating narratives that feel both timeless and immediate. The collection captures the particular power of ghost stories shared at dusk, when shadows lengthen and the boundary between worlds grows thin.
Genres: short-stories, african-american, horror, folklore, ghost-stories, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: moral-lessons, oral-tradition, supernatural
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century, 21st-century
122 pages · Library Binding · Demco Media