Ocean State Libraries

A collection of tall tales about such American folk heroes as Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a timeless collection of chillingly scary tales and legends, in which folklorist Alvin Schwartz offers up some of the most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time.

Madcap revisions of familiar fairy tales.

The Ocean State’s capital city is awash in ghostly tales told by “mentalist, mindbender, and professional skeptic, the always entertaining Rory Raven” (Providence Daily Dose).
 
Author Rory Raven has collected stories and tales drawn from the history and folklore of one of the oldest cities in the nation. From restless spirits and mysterious deaths, to vampires and shadowy strangers—including H. P....

"The Yaga siblings--Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist--have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive a mysterious inheritance, the siblings are reunited--only to discover that their bequest isn't land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs. Thistlefoot, as the house...

A Southern folktale in which kind Blanche, following the instructions of an old witch, gains riches, while her greedy sister makes fun of the old woman and is duly rewarded.

"Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and...

"Recounts the life of the extraordinary lumberjack whose unusual size and strength brought him many fantastic adventures." --

When cornmeal is stolen from an elderly couple, the others in a Cherokee village find a way to drive off the thief, creating the Milky Way in the process.

"Incidents from the life of Pecos Bill, from his childhood among the coyotes to his unusual wedding day." --