Spooky Stories

As established in my former post about Coraline, clearly I am a big wimp when it comes to scary stories. When I was little and my brother and I would suggest that our house might be haunted, our mother's response was "Our house isn't that old, and we knew the people who lived here before us." This logic was enough to calm my wildly over-imaginitive childhood fears. All of this went out the window, though, when I moved to Scotland in college. Of course, I was much older and should have been wiser (and braver) but the thing about Scotland is that it's a really really really old place. And I didn't know the people who lived there before me. In fact, the city I lived in, Edinburgh, has a reputation for being one of the most haunted cities in the world, and with good reason: Lots of gruesome stuff happened there. Among the legendary creepy true stories of the city are the tales of graverobbers who would supply the surgeons at the medical college with bodies for anatomy study in the early 1800s. Fleshmarket by Nicola Morgan explores not only the true history behind these legends, but also raises questions about medical ethics, and shines a light on the plight of the poor people of Edinburgh in the 19th century. I loved reading this book because it was set among streets that are still there today, that I had walked on-- and in the instances when my imagination spooked me out, had run away from. If you are looking for a blend of true history and horror leading up to Halloween, look no further than Fleshmarket.

p.s. Edinburgh today is a very lovely city with lots of tea and nice people-- if this book makes you curious come talk to me more about living there!