'Ulster Ghost Stories Part Two' - 1990s Publication Sought!

[Quercus]

Bit of a long shot, admittedly, but many many years ago a community history group in Belfast put out a series of 60-page pamphlets on local ghost stories.

Some of them I bought up at the time, others I've acquired since through online auctions and the occasional lucky find at second-hand markets.

The one I'm still missing is 'Ulster Ghost Stories Part Two', and it was published by the Glenravel Local History Project c.1992/93.

I've never seen a copy, or found any trace of one for sale online, but it was listed in their available back issues for a few years so I'm reasonably confident it exists.

It looks to be the same format as Part 1 (which I have) - A4 sized, monochrome throughout with a mildly coloured paper cover, and 60 pages with two staples holding it together:

I believe I have read most of the stories within UGS Pt2, since the series author (Joe Baker) put together a 'Haunted Belfast' book a few years ago, and seems to have reused pretty much all the stories he previously published under the Glenravel imprint.

But there's a few which I can tantalisingly make out on the UGS Pt2 front cover ('Old Emma', 'The Grip Of A Ghost') that aren't in the collected edition and, as a completionist, I'd be interested in tracking down a copy of this one.

So, just wondering if anyone happens to have a copy kicking around that they no longer require - or if you do but don't wish to sell, could even provide a precis of the stories in that edition?

Hey, if it's not here, it's maybe not anywhere...

Many thanks!

 

[Frideswide]

what a wonderful publication!

 

[Quercus]

Should maybe update this to advise that I did, eventually, find a copy of the elusive 'Ulster Ghost Stories Part 2' - habitually riffling through stacks of old magazines on market stalls finally paid off.

While most of the stories had indeed been reprinted in some of Glenravel's later publications, there's a few which were completely new to me - so it was a worthwhile enterprise to track down a copy.

This is the only copy I know of - trawling through library catalogues and searching online has returned a blank every time, though the fact it has an ISSN number (1354/6821) I think means that the British Library ought to hold a copy.

It broadly matches the inaugural Part 1 publication in terms of format:

Although Part 3 was printed in a smaller A5 format, the same as the 'Old Belfast Ghost Stories' series, and the sole 'True Irish Ghost Stories' volume.

I believe I now have the full set of ghost story publications put out by the Glenravel Local History Project - but if you're keen to find out more without going to the hassle of my thirty-year odyssey to track down the original print run, the majority of the stories are published in 'Haunted Belfast' in one form or another (Nonsuch Publishing, Dublin, 2009).

Sometimes the stories are longer, sometimes shorter than the originals - but copies of this book, credited to Joe Baker (the co-author of most of the original pamphlets) are widely available from online book retailers for not very much money:

Despite being originally published from the early 1990s onwards, there's no mention anywhere in these pamphlets or the later compendium book of my personal local tale of interest - the Beechmount Poltergeist/ 'Woman In Black' case, which I find a bit surprising given that the events surrounding it were very recent (1989), and had been widely reported by the media.

Indeed, most of the stories recounted are Victorian or older, with a smattering of early C20th tales and I think only one post-WW2 story. Possibly the nature of being a self-described history project skews those stories included towards older tales?

I'd like to delve deeper into these stories at some point, but it probably deserves its own thread. So, when I've got time... hopefully it'll happen.

 

[RT1988]

That's a fantastic collection you have Quercus. Nothing beats the originals. I bet you were glad when you found the last one.