Collects tales from the oral traditions of American folklore, these ghost stories and tales of weird happenings, witches, and graveyards have startling, funny, or surprising endings.

Meet the fearsome creatures of the lumberwoods! The Hodag, like a spinybacked bull-horned rhinoceros packing 3,000 pounds of carnivorous fury. The Snoligoster, the reptilian beast that feeds on the shadows of its victims. And deadlier than a rattler, copperhead, or cottonmouth combined, the Hoop Snake, which can chase prey at speeds up to 60 miles per hour and then, with one sting of its venomous tail, cause the victim to turn purple, swell up, and...