Oxfordshire Stories of the Supernatural

You might remember this post which I wrote last year, about a book I found in the independent bookshop of Wallingford, but that I didn't buy, since I thought I had it already, as the image on its cover was exactly the same as another book I had in the same collection. Well, during my last time in Wallingford, I finally purchased Oxfordshire Stories of the Supernatural. And I read it last month, as I have started my officious countdown to Halloween. I thought it would be a nice way to getting myself in the mood. It was a pleasant read, if a bit sensationalist, as I suspected. The author is way too eager to believe in every claim of supernatural phenomenon and there is hardly any ounce of skepticism in it. But it had a few eerie moments, which was what I was looking for. Although it was not as scary as I wished and although I knew a lot of the stories from a book I had read earlier (and which I also bought in the independent bookshop of Wallingford), it was still fun in a spooky way. As Halloween is getting closer and closer, I will read more scary stories and of course blog about them.

Stories of the Supernatural (an anecdote)

I blogged two days ago about my recent visit to Wallingford. It was too short a time really. I did however made time to visit their independent bookshop. As usual, I bought a few books there, as I always find treasures. I also saw a booklet called Oxfordshire Stories of the Supernatural, with a sticker saying "Only £3.95" (which makes it cheaper than online, believe it or not). The cover looked very exciting and I knew it was some stupid book of cheap thrills and "real" ghost stories, but at this price I thought I might as well purchase it. I have a thing for local folklore and legends and however silly these stories are they make for great Halloween reads.

Except that I did not purchase it. Because however I love that cover, I thought it looked awfully familiar. I thought I might already have purchased it, maybe in this very independent bookshop. So I decided not to. Buying the same book a second time is always too expensive, when you can use this money to purchase a new book you never read. And I already had made a few purchases. And it's not like my collection of scary stories is lacking, in fact I am quite proud of it, what I truly lack is time to read them. So I pondered about buying it and then giving it to someone who loves scary stories (say Buffy's owner), but then decided not to purchase. At home, I discovered my mistake: I had bought during my time in Devon its own regional Stories of the Supernatural. It had the exact same cover. Only the colours surrounding the spooky image are a bit different. So that means I will have to go back to Wallingford and its bookshop, hoping nobody will have snatched it before. Oh well, it's an excuse like any other.