Today, many of the historic coal-mining communities of the Rocky Mountains are uninhabited ghost towns. Yet behind the crumbled ruins are tales of perseverance, danger and romance. A devastating mine explosion on Halloween shatters the lives of mining families in Nordegg. The miners of Mountain Park build a hockey rink still celebrated in local lore. A young immigrant couple in Mercoal establishes a successful business only to have their love story sadly cut short. These 11 dramatic and poignant ghost-town tales are sure to fascinate all who love pioneer history.

Johnnie Bachusky is a national award–winning journalist who has explored hundreds of ghost towns across western and northern Canada since the late 1990s. He has written dozens of ghost-town and heritage-related articles for newspapers and magazines in Canada. His heritage photography has been featured in national and international publications, and he has been consulted on and featured in many television and film documentaries. As well, he is the co-creator of three acclaimed websites about ghost towns and the heritage photography site Silent Structures. He lives with his wife Darlis, daughter Darlana, three cats and a hound in Red Deer, Alberta. And yes, in 2009 he was named Canada’s Worst Handyman on the Discovery Channel program of the same name.

Johnnie Bachusky's profile page