Book Review: Haunting Sunshine

Title: Haunting Sunshine: Ghostly Tales from Florida's Shadows
Author: Jack Powell
Publisher Data: Pineapple Press, 2001

My sister recently returned from an anniversary trip to Florida, and brought me back several tomes of Florida hauntings, including this book by Dr. Jack Powell, retired military pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist.

The book is chocked full of fascinating stories from every corner of the Sunshine State, and is organized in easy to digest chapters and  entries for each location.  Dr. Powell seems to write from the heart, and the text is dotted with his own anecdotes, giving the book a very personal touch.

However, honestly, this isn't one of my favorite books of Florida ghost stories.  While there definitely was plenty of great places featured, many of these places didn't seem to have a lot of historical background included.  As an investigator, I love hearing personal experiences, but I also like to hear the history, and see if there is any historical documentation to back up claims.

Overall, I'd recommend this book more to those who just want a good read in scary stories, but to those looking for haunted places in the state of Florida, its still a great read...there are lots of locations to choose from that encourage one to do his/her OWN research, and dig a little deeper into famous locations such as the Don CeSar, Castillo de San Marcos, and many more.

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