Great Australian Ghost Stories

Australian History Local History Reference Young Adult Non-Fiction Paranormal Non-Fiction Ghost Stories Short Stories True Accounts

Richard Davis’s Great Australian Ghost Stories (ABC Books, 2012) is the go-to paperback for anyone who wants Australia’s spookiest true encounters in one compulsively readable volume. Across 282 pages Davis, a respected historian, curates 35 meticulously researched cases—from the flickering lantern of Port Arthur’s solitary cell to the miner still knocking in Ballarat’s forgotten shafts—giving each tale the ring of documentary truth rather than campfire myth. The result is a rare hybrid: a reference-quality local-history book that also happens to be a page-turner you can finish in a single stormy night.

What makes this collection especially valuable is its authority. Every story is foot-noted with court records, newspaper clippings or first-hand diaries, so readers can chase the primary sources themselves. Davis arranges the accounts chronologically from colonial gaols to modern outback motels, letting you watch Australia’s ghost lore evolve with the nation. Teachers and students use the book as a portable archive, while travellers match the chapters to heritage sites and walking tours along the convict trail or the goldfields.

Unlike imported ghost guides that recycle the same European castles, this title zeroes in on distinctly Australian settings: shearers’ quarters, wartime RAAF bases, lighthouses on the Great Ocean Road and Kimberley cattle stations. The writing is crisp and atmospheric, yet never sensational, making it ideal for young-adults seeking curriculum-friendly Australian history as well as adults after a credible late-night chill. With only a single dog-eared page and otherwise clean, tight binding, this gently used copy is ready for the shelf of collectors who demand both authenticity and condition.

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