My only qualm about this book is the state in which it's set.

I'll say it now, Joseph Citro is a New England treasure, and the various books by Citro that I've read over the years have made the New England states seem like a delightful world of the weird and mysterious. This book, The Vermont Ghost Guide, is exactly what its title suggests it will be, and I wish Citro had the time and resources to compile a book like this for every state -- or, if not, at least Pennsylvania.

I love New England, although Vermont is the New England state in which I have spent the least amount of time. It comes in only slightly behind tiny Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, if I'm being honest, is a place I've mostly passed through, but not explored. I have on the other hand logged countless hours, days and weeks in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine, and I enjoy the overall sense of history, culture and oddness of the region.

The Vermont Ghost Guide is organized by town, and in each Citro provides one or more brief entries describing a ghostly resident or happening. Entries are succinct, not trying to spook the reader so much as provide a resource for hauntings throughout the Green Mountain State. Robert W. Brunelle Jr. provides cartoon-like illustrations with each -- again, designed more to entertain than to frighten.

It's a handy resource, which you can read straight through like I did, or keep in a handy spot to browse a page here and there, as time permits. In any case, you'll get a nice insight into the haunted spots of Vermont!

Oh, and because Citro has a wicked sense of humor, he notes in his introduction that two of the stories in this volume are fiction, written by him to be included among the other tales. Good luck guessing which two they are!

(By the way, I should note that this is a revised and expanded version of a book, same title, published by Citro some 20 years earlier. Anyone who has read the original book should check out the new material.)