This is a well written account about ghosts in the Big Sur area. It tells of a ghost plane that goes under Bixby, Ghost wagon at Mal Paso, and a lot of other interesting stories. A must buy!

This book is one of the best Gold Rush books I have ever read! My favorite section of this book is the part about Rattle Snake Dick and Black Bart the "P08".(This is not a miss speling) I would recommend this book for a 4th or 5th graders.Or any student studying the California Gold Rush of 1849.

Although the flow of the storytelling in GHOST NOTES is disorderly, enough theoretical background on the phenomena is provided to make this book intriguing. Author Randall A. Reinstedt is a folklorist living in the Carmel-Monterey bay area of California and knows his locale well.

This 1991 trade paperback is literally an organized collection of Reinstedt's notes in pursuing details of local true ghost encounters. Each anecdote is reported in the chronological order he received them and several black and white photos help illustrate the haunted sites.

An elderly lady arrives the United States Naval Postgraduate School (formerly the Hotel Del Monte) to celebrate her anniversary with her husband, but becomes upset when the phantom "man in gray" asks her where the stairs are. At the Royal Presidio Chapel (a.k.a. San Carlos Cathedral), two security officers watch as their canine escort battles an invisible foe. Motorists narrowly avoid accidents by the Ghost Tree on Carmel's famed Seventeen Mile Drive when they see the mysterious lady in lace walking down the middle of the road on dark, foggy nights.

These vignettes randomly move about the locale and vary in length, depth, and detail. While some may not say much, Reinstedt usually provides some history or theory to fill major gaps in the stories. He has an obvious love for this section of the state. As a long-time resident who takes advantage of local resources, he does his research and has consulted primary as well as secondary sources.

Naturally, the world-famous members of this coastal community receive some attention. Reinstedt briefly describes a haunting revolving around Clint Eastwood's ranch. Robert Louis Stevenson and Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck are dwelled on several times, but Reinstedt cannot offer any verification that they're among the spirits he reports. (This is actually a Good Thing for the deceased authors. No one really wants to stagnate in his evolutionary process.) Doris Day, on the other hand, is overlooked.

The two most annoying factors is the way this book is structured and its constant references to Reinstedt's previous publications. Although he gives his readers a good feel of the region by moving here and there with his anecdotes, his numerous accounts on the Postgraduate School, for instance, lose momentum because of his adherence to his chronology. With so much to say about a single haunted site, it would be better to clump all of its details in a lengthier chapter rather than present them as broken up accounts.

The referrals to Reinstedt's other books come off as a cheap marketing ploy. The list of the author's other publications is sufficient.

Despite the irritating traits in GHOST NOTES, Reinstedt's research is impressive and his own. He is willing to speculate with the facts he is familiar so the reader is satisfied and not left with unanswered questions. This is for people who like ghostlore, especially if they have an interest the Carmel-Monterey area.

This is a neat book, if you live or have ever been to Monterey. Some of the things shown in this book are places that you may have been before.

This book lacks the spooky charm that was abundant in the author's other book, "Ghostly Tales and Mysterious Happenings of Old Monterey." Although there are one or two good stories, the majority of the tales in this book are brief and vague. They tell of people feeling a strange presence at one place, or seeing ghostly fog in another. It leaves the reader wanting. If you enjoy the atmosphere of the Monterey Peninsula and want a good ghost story for a dark and stormy night, then I suggest "Ghostly Tales and Mysterious Happenings of Old Monterey" over this book. Both are by the same author.