RAW HEAD, BLOODY BONES
African-American Tales of the Supernatural
edited by Mary E. Lyons
A biographer of Zora Neale Hurston (Sorrow's Kitchen, 1990) presents 15 eerie tales featuring ghosts, monsters, and ``Gullah Goblins,'' collected in the Caribbean and the southern US by the Federal Writers' Project and other researchers. Lyons admits to having made some changes and adaptations, but the language remains fluid and evocative: when ``Dead Aaron'' comes back from the grave, his widow demands of a suitor, ``How long us got to put up with this dead corpse?...How long us got to set by us own fire, you and me, and him?'' Lyons appends notes and a large bibliography, and urges young people to read or tell these stories with animation—''And don't forget to add the best part...THE SCREAM!'' (Folklore. 10-12)