Book Review: Haunted Bridges by Rich Newman

28700191Title: Haunted Bridges
Author: Rich Newman
Genre: Nonfiction, True Haunting
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 1 star
Purchase: Amazon

Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Restless Spirits and Supernatural Thrills

More than 300 bridges with eerie phenomenon that span space and time

Across the country hundreds of bridges harbor some of the creepiest paranormal activity known to man. Invisible hands reach out and touch unsuspecting travelers. Residual ghosts haunt scenes of murders, accidents, hangings, and suicides. At some bridges a voice cries out in the darkness that sends a chill down the spine of anyone who hears it.

Haunted Bridges tells the kinds of stories that are told in hushed tones around hearths and campfires as we ponder the unknown late into the night. The stories are at once mesmerizing, unique, and unexpectedly familiar, as if we all know deep down that fate keeps some spirits bound to earth. If you can endure the fear and you don’t look away, you will experience the dread and mystery of the unexplained.

Cities and states are listed for 324 public locations so readers can look up specific bridges.

When I started reading Haunted Bridges, I was really curious. I had thought the book would tell stories of the hauntings related to the bridges, focus on the background/history of the bridge, tell readers the location of the bridge, and ideally also provide some witness accounts, or the author’s first hand experiences.

Uhm, not so much. First, the book is really quite ambitious. It focuses on more than 300 bridges, but only shares a page at most about each bridge. The stories are repetitive and boring, so much so that it would be better if the author focused on 2-3 bridges per chapter, and then just added in a paragraph along the lines of “(insert numerous other bridges) share a similar story. You can visit them at (insert locations)” or something like that. Now, it’s basically the same after the discussion of a bridge or two, and I found myself skipping entire pages.

The book has zero thrill factor. It’s actually quite boring. The information is short, and you scarcely find more than you would have found by a quick Google search. More information on a smaller number of bridges would be a lot more interesting.

This book is an example of where the author chose quantity over quality, providing the reader with a dry run-down of haunted bridges that makes for a dry, dull read. I didn’t finish this one, just skimmed through it.

Speak Your Mind

*