Review of
The Frost Haint of ‘Possum Hollow and
Other Ozark Tales, by Alan Lance Andersen
Five out of five stars
Great material for a local liars contest
These tales are
the kind that men with some adult refreshment inside them tell others of things
designed to stretch your level of incredulity. More specifically an aged
grandfather relating a wild story to enraptured children.
While some of
the stories could be considered on the edge of the “Believe it or not” range,
many are far beyond that level. All are legends with their origin in the Ozark
mountains and some feature writer Mark Twain and outlaw Jesse James.
A frost haint
is a spectre that causes objects that it breaths on to frost up and freeze. It
frightened many people until it met its’ match in Uncle Elmer. His solution was
to take a deep breath and blow hard on the frost haint.
These stories
represent some of the best traditions of storytelling in the Ozark mountain
region. Andersen has preserved these legends for future generations to snicker
at and maybe be a bit scared of.
No comments:
Post a Comment