'Yellowstone' author fascinated by ghost stories

Ghost stories have always fascinated Shellie Larios.

As a child she enjoyed sitting around the campfire listening to spooky ghost stories. Now the Clinton resident has channeled her fascination into a new book she wrote entitled, "Yellowstone Ghost Stories."

The book focuses on legends in the park and a few spirits that might still be attached to the them. One such is Maddie Culver. She worked back East in the mines for a while and got tuberculosis. She married and moved to the park with her husband, but she died in the winter a short time later. The ground was frozen so they couldn't bury her until spring, so they put her in pickle barrels.

Another story talks about the ghost of the headless bride who haunts the Old Faithful Inn, although it is a fictional tale made up by a hotel bellboy who tired of guests always asking about ghosts at the inn.

Larios said the book has wide appeal and would be enjoyable for people of all ages. Her favorite way to write is to wait until after midnight, work by candlelight and turn on scary music. The atmosphere makes her feel like she's telling her stories around the campfire.

"It's written like I'm sitting and talking (with someone)," she said. "I wrote it for people like me. I don't consider myself an adult. The way I wrote it was simply so younger children could have the stories read to them without getting too scared, but they're really for anybody."

Yellowstone National Park was chosen as the setting for her ghost stories, Larios said, because it's her favorite place in the world, and she has been going to the park every year since she was very young. A place like Yellowstone, with lots of history, is sure to have some legends and a few ghosts, she said.

"Anything historical is full of energy," she said. "When we leave somewhere, we have to leave a bit of our energy here for our friends and neighbors."

It took 10 years for Larios to complete the book and several more months before she was brave enough to submit it to a publisher. One of her main sources was Lee Whittlesey, Yellowstone historian. She used his book "Death in Yellowstone" and two other books, "Yellowstone Place Names" and "The Yellowstone Story," a classic book detailing the park's history, as her main references.

To Larios, a ghost isn't a spectre running around haunting a place as much as a manifestation of energy preserved in the area.

"A ghost is a feeling of energy or a ghost of a long-lost story," she said. "A ghost doesn't have to be anything. It can be a feeling captured from the past or a message."

Larios' book "Yellowstone Ghost Stories" is available for purchase at most Barnes and Noble locations and by special order from any other bookstore. It can also be found on the Internet. She will be doing a book signing at the Layton Barnes and Noble, 1780 N. Woodland Park Drive, on Oct. 28.

Larios says she doesn't classify herself as a ghost writer or ghost hunter.

"I'm a storyteller and a folklorist, researching stories," she said. "I get on the Internet, and if it doesn't feel right, then I change my direction. ... These are good, fun ghost stories, especially for Halloween."

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com