Fairytale Friday: Spooky Edition 👻🎃👺
Ghost Lake Energy 👻🌊
This week, we're diving into Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet, written and illustrated by Milwaukee-based artist, author, and educator Geo Rutherford. Published in 2024 by Abrams Books for Young Readers in New York, this eerie yet enchanting collection is based on Rutherford’s viral Spooky Lake Month TikTok series.
Rutherford’s book explores some of the world’s strangest and most haunting lakes. From Tanzania’s Lake Natron, whose waters can mummify animals, to Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, where an endless lightning storm rages, to the ghostly shipwrecks preserved in the cold depths of Lake Superior. These real-life phenomena prove that truth can be just as chilling as legend.
Her moody, mesmerizing illustrations capture the quiet mystery of deep waters while teaching readers about hydrology, ecosystems, and the importance of protecting our planet’s fragile environments. Blending field guide precision with folklore flair, Spooky Lakes delivers equal parts wonder and goosebumps, perfect reading for spooky season and a reminder that even the calmest lake may hold secrets beneath its ripples.
Geo Rutherford was once a graduate student of our Special Collections librarian, Max Yela, and our copy of Spooky Lakes is a gift from him featuring a signed presentation inscription from the author herself.
-View previous Fairytale Friday posts
-View more from our Historical Curriculum Collection
---Melissa (will not be taking any midnight swims), Distinctive Collections Library Assistant



















