Doubtless some of you have heard of Taylor. I actually had not until my first trip the Lemp Mansion, when his books and tours were suggested to me by another guest. He has published many books and organizes tours and hunts at haunted locations throughout the Midwest. Unfortunately, I've just now gotten around to reading one of his books.

If you are looking for a simple St. Louis ghost story book, this might not be your best choice. "Haunted St. Louis" consisted largely of the history of neighborhoods, industry, crime and geology of St. Louis, with some ghost stories thrown in. Thankfully, I like history. I also was familiar with many of the areas Taylor described, and so it was easy to picture what was happening. If you've done much traveling in St. Louis, you will likely have little trouble imagining the settings for the creepy tales.

The history Taylor gives is, of course, important to understanding the circumstances under which the alleged hauntings came about. There are pages and pages of history followed by a few paragraphs, maybe a page or two, of related ghost stories in each chapter.

Taylor dedicates sections of his book to the beginnings of the brewing industry in St. Louis, the 1904 World's Fair, the caves beneath the city, the city's role in the Civil War, and organized crime, among others. He tells a good story and presents all the information in an interesting manner. He is also good at linking pieces of history to each other and to the hauntings.

I do have one negative thing to say. It's something that may not bother everyone, but it bothered me. I have to wonder if anyone proofread the manuscript. On nearly every page, there are problems with subject/verb agreement, apostrophes attempting to make words plural (which is never, EVER appropriate), words left out or repeated, etc. Definitely not the worst I've ever come across, but it was the one thing that really stood in the way of me fully enjoying the book. Occupational hazard, I guess.

That said, the book contained a lot of good information and entertained me, which is what I was looking for. I will probably look into reading some of Taylor's other books.

Further reading

"Haunted St. Louis" by Troy Taylor

Read other reviews of the book or purchase it on Amazon.com.