On Saturday, November 1st at 7 pm, come to Historic Northampton for an evening of traditional ghost stories. Rona Leventhal will tell spooky multicultural folktales from her rich cornucopia of voices and characters. Motoko, from Japan, will take listeners into the dark side of Japanese folklore, where demons, ogres and spirits abound. This program is suitable for ages 12+.

Traditional folktales - stories passed down from oral traditions, myth, legend, or literature and embellished along the way - have often been used to prompt insight into how others lived, "once upon a time."

Ghost stories share what's great about all storytelling: they're instructive, cautionary or just scare you for the fun of it. And they're great entertainment. Says storyteller Motoko, "when you give more power to the past than to the present or the future, ghost stories are born. They're part of our humanity, our attempt to give voice to the voiceless, and make right what can't be made right."

Storytelling is an ancient art form, having taken many forms through history - visual (cave painting), mime, scripted, spoken. As for the latter, it's as old as language itself - where a teller uses words to engage the senses, the emotions, and the imagination of one or many.

Scroll forward some many millennia and arrive at the doorstep of Historic Northampton for an evening of traditional ghost stories.

Rona Leventhal has performed nationally and internationally at festivals, events, and at schools and libraries across the United States. She facilitates the Summer Storytelling Institute for adults, and is co-editor of Spinning Tales, Weaving Hope: Stories, Storytelling, and Activities of Peace, Justice, and the Environment. Her CD, Raps Rhythms and Rhymes: Stories to Tap, Rap, Shake and Sing, will be out next year.

Motoko has shared her blend of traditional Asian tales around the world, including ghost stories at the prestigious National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. She conducts classroom workshops on Japanese culture, creative writing, and origami geometry. She's also worked with Fred Rogers of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and has been underwritten by Carnegie Hall to tell stories internationally. She has been awarded numerous grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and New York State Boards of Cooperative Educational Services.