Introducing Indigenous Storytellers in The Haunted States of America Anthology by Rae Rose

I am excited and wanted to share my first story to be published by a traditional publishing company with all of you who are a part of Last Real Indians! The story is titled Hand and Sica Hollow’s Haunted Trail on a Blue Moon Night. Last Real Indians was the first place to give me space to share my voice as a poet, as a storyteller, and as a medium to help others tell their stories. I am grateful to everyone who worked with me to bring the truth forward and those who shared their truth through me, thank you. LRI will always be the place I come back to as I continue to learn and grow as a writer. These are the reason’s I wanted to share this book here, with you.

My favorite ghost stories come from Indian Country, especially those told on summer nights under a Dakota sky. This story, about Hand and Sica Hollow haunted trial, is a dedication to Danny Seaboy and Patsy Seaboy, both of whom I love, admire, and miss very dearly. I hope you will read and enjoy this haunted tale and the 51 other amazing stories. The series also features two more Indigenous authors, Keliko and Sandra Aguirre-Magaña.

Keliko, from Hawaii, is a mixed race (Kanaka Maoli, Okinawan, white) mixed media artist, writer, and educator from Wāhiawa. She is pursuing a MFA through the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts and holds an MED from Lesley University. This story is her first publication.

From Keliko,'The Night Marchers' is about growing up with local legends and ghost stories that were a regular part of my childhood. My siblings, cousins, friends and I would often talk these stories, and share what we know, debate about what we don't know, and entertain each other, just like the siblings in this story. The sibling dynamic is inspired by my own brother, sister, and me, which made this story so fun to write! We teased each other and took care of each other constantly. And I wanted this story to celebrate these relationships.

Next, it is my pleasure to introduce author representing Texas’s haunted tale, Sandra Aguirre-Magaña. Sandra is an international bilingual storyteller, educator, and author. Even though she now calls El Paso, Texas, home, she is a native Chicagoan from the vibrant Mexican American neighborhood of Pilsen. Sandra has worked in education as a bilingual/dual language teacher for many years and is currently a dyslexia specialist. She fell in love with applied storytelling while taking a Golden Apple Foundation workshop in 2001 led by the late Syd Lieberman. She continued performing for her students and family until she decided to hit the professional storytelling scene in 2017.

 Sandra has self-published three books based on her storytelling performances, The Hairy Hand Visits, ¿Quién es La Llorona? and Las Tres Toronjas, A Fairytale Retold. Recently, her short story, Dancing with the Devil, beat out hundreds of submissions to represent the State of Texas in the anthology, The Haunted States of America, published by Macmillan Publishers through their imprint, Godwin Books, with a release date of July 9, 2024.

Sandra's stories stem from a proud storytelling culture and tradition inspired by her family, especially her grandmothers, who were great tellers. She has performed original scary stories, personal narratives, fairytales, and folktales at the National Storytelling Summits, National Association of Bilingual Educators, Texas Storytelling Festivals, the Chicago Millennium Foundation's Family Literacy Festivals, and local and statewide libraries and schools in New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, and Florida.

All three of us are excited to share our scary tales with you in this chilling anthology and we hope you find something to squeal about in every haunted tale. Thank you everyone at Last Real Indians for highlighting the indigenous authors in this amazing anthology too!

By Rae Rose

Rae Rose is a Pacific Northwest author of Paiute, Mayan, and Japanese heritage. She writes historical fiction, poetry, picture books. “Stories are very important to me, I hope you enjoy these stories I share with you.” You can follow her @Rae_Rose7

Her latest short story to be featured in, ‘The Haunted States of America’