PA Fireside Tales — Volume 6

Over a quarter century ago I became addicted to the legends and folktales of Pennsylvania. I had always liked to hear the old tales, even as a young lad, but thirty-five years ago I decided I’d like to collect them and preserve them in a book or two. That book or two has extended to this sixth volume in a series I’ve titled Pennsylvania Fireside Tales, but right now I don’t plan to write a volume seven. However, that could change. I still have many episodes related to the Indians of Pennsylvania which have not appeared in any of the six volumes, and lots of the ghost, witch and supernatural tales I collected that I’ve still got in my treasure chest of stories as well. However, that trunk no longer contains any of the old-time hunting episodes I liked so much, and any books in the Pennsylvania Fireside Tales series would be incomplete without them. Therefore, if I do publish another book, it will be a single volume that is not part of this series but one that contains only my ghost, witch, and supernatural stories.

There are many such tales which I had hoped to include in the six volumes of Pennsylvania Fireside Tales, but these rejects never saw the “light of print” because of space limitations and the charm of other episodes which had greater appeal. However, stories like that of Clinton County‘s dancing cupboard, the Inglebee Monster in Centre County, or Spook Hollow in Clearfield County also hold a fascination for lovers of the odd and unexplained, and I hope I can tell those stories someday too. After all, the first story I collected was a story that fell into that category, and such accounts always intrigued me, and still do today.