Some Nightmares Are True

Ghosts of America's Deadliest Disasters

By: Kelly Kazek

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

In this haunting follow-up to Some Nightmares Are Real, journalist and storyteller Kelly Kazek investigates supernatural folklore grounded in historical catastrophe. This time, she ventures beyond Alabama, unearthing the legends born from their aftermath of nine of America's most infamous disasters. From the suffocation of the Boston Molasses Flood and the terror of Galveston's notorious Great Storm, to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory disaster, Some Nightmares Are True examines ghost stories that have haunted communities long after the headlines stopped.

Each spooky story blends vivid storytelling with meticulous research, connecting real events to the ghostly lore they inspired. Kazek explores not just the moment of disaster, but how grief, resilience, and remembrance shape the way stories live on—through newspaper archives, folklore, and generations of retelling.

With Southern sensibility and journalistic rigor, Kazek explores how moments of tragedy like the Dixie Tornado Outbreak in Alabama, the capsizing of the SS Eastland in Chicago, and the aftermath of the Schoolchildren's Blizzard in Nebraska leave imprints on generational memory. These sites of devastation become more than historical footnotes; they transform into hallowed grounds where grief lingers, legends remain, and the line between fact and folklore dissolves.

©2026 The University of Alabama Press (P)2026 Tantor Media