Between Midnight and Morning: Historic Hauntings from the Frontier, Hispanic, and Native American Traditions

by Patrick M. Mendoza

Overview

Historic hauntings and ghost tales from the Frontier, Hispanic and Native American Traditions.
In the shadows lurking between midnight and morning, the imagination reigns. In the ghost lore of the frontier, Hispanic, and Native American traditions, “real” and “imagined” are words with shifting boundaries: shape-shifters live in the shadows; phantom eyes shine in rearview mirrors; invisible mourners chant sacred songs. The 15 tales include: "The Ghosts of Wounded Knee," "The Night of Water," "The Haunting of the Sheridan Inn," and "No Goodbyes."Wolves become women, native artifacts carry curses, and the ghost of Miss Kate catches flying wine glasses. All the stories come from the performance repertory of storyteller Patrick Mendoza, with his narrator's ear for dialogue, eye for detail, and empathy of human frailty. These Native American stories emphasize the importance of fairness and respect.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874836073
Publisher:	August House Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/28/2005
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.76(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.39(d)
Lexile:	940L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 18 Years

About the Author

Pat Mendoza Bio:Pat Mendoza, an internationally acclaimed storyteller, was also an author, singer, composer, humorist, and musician. He was nominated by United States Congressman Mark Udall to represent his home state of Colorado at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Pat's career as a writer, storyteller and songsmith has been unique to say the least. He lived and worked with indigenous peoples in different cultures, in three countries and was formally adopted by the Cheyenne and honored by Lakota people for his storytelling performances. As a result, his unusual stories from native cultures linger in memory and have an authentic style that makes his writing unique.
Prior to his performing career, Mendoza was a police officer and martial arts instructor (he held black belts in Kung fu and Tae Kwando) for seven and a half years (including a year and a half as a homicide investigator). He was a member of two state champion swimming teams, and was an avid weightlifter, martial artist and a PADI certified open water diver.

Editorial Reviews

In this collection of "historic hauntings and ghost tales from the Frontier, Hispanic, and Native American traditions," storyteller Mendoza has gathered the lore of shapeshifters and phantoms, wolfwomen and cursed objects. A rich, compelling, narrative voice characterizes these retellings, so the reader is swept right into the world of young Julio Acosta and his Ouija board, into the circle of the Stomp Dance that will bring Deer Woman, who seeking to put an end to vanity, and out among the hills of South Dakota to listen to old songs of sorrow at Wounded Knee. Story sources follow each of the fifteen tales. Glossary included. 2000, August House, Ages 9 up, $8.95. Reviewer: Uma Krishnaswami

Children's Literature

From the time Mendoza heard his first ghost story from his father, at the age of five, he says, "I...came to realize that ghost stories are everywhere." For this volume, he interviewed persons who had had ghostly experiences or knowledge of historical Indian legends. He says he visited all the places mentioned in the stories. Sample stories: A young Mexican girl who died in a car accident in 1935 reappears in subsequent years. A man who steals a rattle from a Tlingit (Alaska) grave suffers frightening consequences. Evil, shape-changing Skin Walkers enter the bodies of humans in several stories. Dead warriors haunt the Little Big Horn battlefield. The ghostly hand of a man dressed in a wool coat and slouch hat pulls an Indian girl from Colorado flood waters in 1976. A man with cloven hooves is sighted by a man waiting in his Duster at a railroad crossing. A green light appears at a Dakota graveyard where victims of an 1862 massacre are buried. A young, flawlessly dressed Indian woman with cloven hooves identifies the vainest man at Stomp Dances and kills him. An animal with eyes that "looked as though they came from hell itself" appears every 30 years to kill poor farmers' cattle. Spanish voices are heard years after a battle between the Cheyenne and Spanish soldiers. Extended historical background is included with a story of ghosts that appear at the site of the battle at Wounded Knee, SD. These stories were written with great care; the author appeared more intent on getting the details right than on telling chilling yarns (not a serious failing). A note at the end of each story tells something of the source or circumstances under which the author acquired the story. Excellentcultural material. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, August House, 128p, 22cm, 00-056603, $8.95. Ages 13 to adult. Reviewer: Edna M. Boardman; former Lib. Media Spec., Magic City Campus, Minot, ND, March 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 2)

KLIATT

Gr 4-6-These 15 stories have been collected by a traveling performer, and many of them are told as true happenings. Sources are included, and notes tell of how Mendoza happened to hear the selection, or who told it to him. While the tales are unusual, local stories from the West and Southwest, the writing style is plain and unadorned. The plotting is sometimes strained, and details are sometimes too many, sometimes too few, to stimulate readers' imagination.-Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Historic hauntings and ghost stories from the frontier, from Hispanic and Native American traditions, provide a taste of something different in this ghost account. Fans of ghost stories and ethnic storytelling will relish this set of stories composed by a master storyteller.