BOOK REVIEW:

‘Ghosts of St. Louis: The Lemp Mansion And Other Eerie Tales’ by Bryan W. Alaspa (2007 Schiffer)

Review by Scott Lefebvre [Scott_Lefebvre@hotmail.com]

     I received this book as one of a stack of regional paranormal books I obtained from Schiffer Books when I stopped by the publisher’s home in Atglen, Pennsylvania.   And by home I mean their quaint offices next door to a warehouse that looks like the end scene from Raider’s of the Lost Ark inside.

     Whenever I read a book, I always read the back cover blurbs, read the jacket flap blurbs, (if there are any) and check out the chapter listing.   I noticed that the author included a Guideline for Urban Exploration.   I had written one for my book, ‘Spooky Creepy Long Island’, so I decided to see how my guidelines weighed up against his guidelines.   And by written, I mean I discovered a set of guidelines during my research for the Long Island book and thought it was pretty good, but it could be better, so, using the one I found as its inspiration, I cleaned it up and rewrote it in my own style, which I think made it read a little clearer and gave it a better flow.   If I didn’t think I could have improved it, I would have just sent the original creator an e-mail and asked to use their version.   But thankfully I haven’t yet found someone who executed something that I set out to do perfectly.   There’s always room for improvement.

     So I decided to check out this author’s Guidelines and when I got a few sentences in they seemed really familiar.   I liked the style the guy used.   Then it hit me.   I flipped to the end of the Guidelines.   There it was.   My samurai sword joke.   They were my Guidelines.   I forgot that I had given the okay for Dinah Roseberry, my editor at Schiffer Books to offer my Guidelines as supplementary material for other authors submitting books to the Schiffer Books ghost line.   It was the first time I had seen the Guidelines used in this manner, and it was just really cool to have that experience.

     Not that Brian Alaspa’s original material is any less enjoyable.   The author presents an engaging account of the Lemp family, complete with success, scandal, suicide and marital strife.   The mansion which was a silent witness of the unfolding events supposedly continues to manifest the supernatural record of the rise and fall of the first family of St. Louis.   Although the Lemp’s and their family home make up the bulk of the book, it is not the only example of the regional paranormal offerings of the St. Louis area.   The author present eight additional chapters, addressing the regional paranormal offerings of the St. Louis area.

     One might wonder what the appeal is of reading a regional paranormal book about a region that you’re not from and have no plans to visit in the foreseeable future.   The appeal to me is whenever I read a regional paranormal book I like to think about the people I know from that area and imagine that I’m reading about their stomping grounds.   Plus, since I’m not from the region and I have no plans to visit it in the foreseeable future, it’s pleasant to read about places and things that I may never get a chance to get around to seeing.

     This book is sincerely recommended for not only St. Louis residents, but also any enthusiasts of all things paranormal.

This book can be ordered at Schiffer Books at www.SchifferBooks.com

About the reviewer:

     Scott Lefebvre has probably read everything you've read.

     Mostly because when he was grounded for his outlandish behavior as a hyperactive school child, the only place he was allowed to go was the public library.

     His literary tastes were forged by the works of Helen Hoke, Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft.

     His reviews have been published by a variety of in print and online media.

     His first book, 'Spooky Creepy Long Island', a collection of paranormal stories about Long Island, New York, is available from Schiffer Books. [ www.SchifferBooks.com ]