
Cursed in New England
Stories Of Damned Yankees
Joseph A. Citro(Author)
Globe Pequot Press
Published on 1. September 2004
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-0-7627-2868-8 (ISBN)
Description
New Englanders are always cursing. But a colorful profanity uttered by some stero-typically taciturn old Yankee is usually more humorous than menacing. Yet, true maledictions (the opposite of benedictions) have frequently been spoken on New England soil, curses intended to invoke evil, injury, or total destruction against other people.
Stories about preternatural revenge are numerous in Yankee lore, with each New England state providing its favorites. Some are well known, at least regionally. Others are nearly forgotten. Within these pages, storyteller Joseph A. Citro vividly brings these tales to life, letting us decide if these tales of woe were bad luck or ... something else. All are cursed!
Stories about preternatural revenge are numerous in Yankee lore, with each New England state providing its favorites. Some are well known, at least regionally. Others are nearly forgotten. Within these pages, storyteller Joseph A. Citro vividly brings these tales to life, letting us decide if these tales of woe were bad luck or ... something else. All are cursed!
Reviews / Votes
Vermont native Citro has spent years studying the darker side of New England; in books such as Passing Strange, Curious New England and Green Mountains, Dark Trails he's told stories of hauntings and horrors, of mysteries and superstitions. Here he examines some of the area's most famous curses, from the 1600s through the 1960s, and while his tone is generally impartial ("in the interest of journalistic objectivity"), he admits a fascination that verges on belief. Convicted citizens who knew themselves to be innocent often pronounced final curses on their accusers (Citro reports that in the late 17th century, after being told by a condemned woman that God would give him blood to drink, a dishonest cleric suffered an internal hemorrhage and drowned in his own blood), while desperate people called down evil on those who had refused them help (in the early 19th century, Citro writes, a woman who has been refused passage on a Lake Champlain steamship caused it to burst into flame). In most of these stories, the curses act as the vengeance of the powerless on the powerful. Citro does a fine job of presenting the evidence for curses, but he's not afraid to debunk them either. Creepy b&w illustrations add to the pleasure of this informative and entertaining volume for all students of the supernatural. -- Publishers WeeklyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Old Saybrook
United States
Publishing group
Rowman & Littlefield
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
20 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7627-2868-8 (9780762728688)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Novelist and public radio commentator JOSEPH A. CITRO has done a lot to keep Vermont's history and folklore alive in popular culture. His books include five novels of suspense, three volumes of historical oddities, a collection of regional humor, and a travel guide. Mr. Citro's best-selling Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls And Unsolved Mysteries (Houghton Mifflin, 1994) is the most comprehensive compilation of offbeat Vermontiana ever assembled (now in its 10th printing). It was supplemented by Passing Strange (1996), Green Mountains, Dark Tales (1999) and The Vermont Ghost Guide (2000). His novels -- three of which have been optioned for motion pictures -- present a dark and mystical side of the Vermont experience. They include Shadow Child, Guardian Angels, The Gore, Lake Monsters and Deus-X. Joseph Citro's Vermont Public Radio commentary series is heard regularly in five states and Canada . A native of Chester, Vermont, he has taught in local colleges, lectured widely, and appeared on regional and national radio and television. Two videos based on his Vermont oddities is currently in the works.
Content
CONTENTS
Preface
1. Damned Yankees
2. "A Dreadful Wizard"
3. The Burton Ail
4. Saga of the Saco River
5. A Blighted Campaign
6. The Phantom Foot
7. The Missing Man
8. Connecticut's Village of the Damned
9. Nix' Mate
10. That Old Sand Farm
11. No Mercy from Mercie Dale
12. Fate and the Phoenix
13. The Witch and the Virgin
14. The Tree of Knowledge
15. An Idol Revenge
16. Haunted Waters
17. A Shadow Over Crompton
18. The Crash of Camelot
19. A Cluster of Curses
APPENDIX 1-Commination Service
Acknowledgements / Bibliography
Index
Preface
1. Damned Yankees
2. "A Dreadful Wizard"
3. The Burton Ail
4. Saga of the Saco River
5. A Blighted Campaign
6. The Phantom Foot
7. The Missing Man
8. Connecticut's Village of the Damned
9. Nix' Mate
10. That Old Sand Farm
11. No Mercy from Mercie Dale
12. Fate and the Phoenix
13. The Witch and the Virgin
14. The Tree of Knowledge
15. An Idol Revenge
16. Haunted Waters
17. A Shadow Over Crompton
18. The Crash of Camelot
19. A Cluster of Curses
APPENDIX 1-Commination Service
Acknowledgements / Bibliography
Index