The Finland Ghost
A True Story

The town is gone from every map. The light is still out there...somewhere.In October 1955, eleven-year-old Johnny Stephens rode with his father into the Pequop Mountains of northeastern Nevada to close a remote railroad telegraph station for the winter. The ghost town was called Finland.That first night, as a snow storm rolled in, Johnny built a fire so hot the stovepipe glowed red. He heard a cat meowing from inside the chimney. There wasn't a single track in the snow outside. Where did the cat come from? Or was it even a cat? After dark, something began scratching in the cabin wall. His father recognized it as Morse code SOS.The next morning Johnny walked down railroad ties with breakfast for his father. He turned around and saw a ball of white light hovering above the tracks. When he walked faster, it followed. When he ran, it chased him.Once Johnny arrived at the telegraph station, the ball of light passed and kept going down the railroad tracks. His father saw the light. After that, Johnny and his father found the Finland Log, a record kept by railroad telegraphers going back to 1912. It told of two women who fired a revolver at the light in 1930. When Johnny and his father finally fled Finland up a muddy mountain road, the light came after their truck.For seventy years, John Stephens told this true story by lantern light at his family's kitchen table, with children leaning in close. Now it's written down in his own plain, unforgettable voice.A true ghost story for middle grade readers ages 8 to 13, and for every family that loves a story told in the dark.This is a true story.