A quick browse through Atlantic Canadian bookstores reveals a passion for the past: nearly half the “Local Interest” titles – both fact and fiction – deal with the region’s storied ancestry. As one well-known Maritime novelist once told me, “The reason we write so much about our history is because we have one.”

The heir apparent to noted East Coast folklorist Helen Creighton is Halifax writer and musician Clary Croft, who again digs up the ghosts of bygone days in his latest book. Prefacing the anthology by saying, “I am not looking to prove or disprove witchcraft,” the 60-year-old scribe wisely sticks to the storytelling, requesting that readers suspend their disbelief as he entertains and educates.

Croft argues that the Maritimes’ abundance of witch lore can be traced back to its Anglo, Acadian, Celtic, Germanic, African, and First Nations roots. The mix of cultures makes for a bubbling cauldron, and Croft’s spellbinding selection of hand-me-down tall tales, local legends, newspaper clippings, and gems from public archives add up to more than mere whimsy – it’s fun and occasionally fantastic.

Behind the sometimes bizarre beliefs, however, is a cache of quaint and quirky characters, and Croft does well with capturing and conveying their eccentricities. A dash of dialogue brings out the best in regional flavour, adding an extra aura of authenticity.