For readers who love short stories, especially ones about local ghosts, “Adirondack Ghost Stories” is packed with 15 of them in a little over 200 pages.

The reading level appeals to a wide range of ages from middle school to adults. Edited by Dennis Webster, who contributed “Chocolate to Die For,” the collection includes writers who have published hundreds of literary and artistic works. One author is a high school student, and several are paranormal investigators, playwrights and photographers. The group also includes an engineer, an Eagle Scout who is also a 46-er, professors of English, artists and a retired U.S. Navy captain. Their diverse interests and skills produce a rich variety of storytelling techniques and spooky tales.

Most of the stories are set deep in the past and all of them take place in the Adirondack region, which has a long history of ghostly hauntings.

In the shortest story, “Ready or Not, Here I Come,” by high school student Holly Aust, five kids find out something no one wants to know while playing hide and seek. The deadly twist at the end of the story is effective.

In “A Haunting in Wells” by P. J. McAvoy, a sad little boy on vacation with his family in a remote cabin is haunted by a lonely boy with a mean streak who drowned in the lake in 1989.

The longest story, “The Great White Stag” by W.K. Pomeroy, reads like an old-timey western where the main character is a rich, white, racist man who abuses Indian hunting guides. The ghosts of the animals he has killed for trophies exact revenge on him in a very satisfying way.

In “Chocolate to Die For” by Dennis Webster, a gorgeous, evil twin and a homely, kind twin open a store called Heavenly Chocolates in the 1930s. Jealousy leads to murder and the collapse of the business, but the ghost of one twin eventually passes along her successful chocolate recipe to a struggling chocolatier whom she deems worthy of the gift.

Lastly, in “Bertha” by Margaret Mendel, a photographer catches her husband cheating with a neighbor and acquires a newly-purchased Adirondack camp in the divorce. Formerly a speakeasy owned by Bertha in the 1920s, neighbors tell her that a lot of people have moved in, stayed for a short time, and then moved out quickly. During a massive thunderstorm, the new owner experiences two events: she hears voices and laughter reminiscent of speakeasy patrons, and a dog scratches at her door asking to come in out of the rain. This story is sweet and filled with hope, despite the ghosts. The dog moves into the cabin permanently, and even Bertha shows up now and again in photographs of the camp.

“Adirondack Ghost Stories” is a fun read for a rainy or snowy day. It is available online and in local bookstores.