Ghost Stories From The American South

Collects Southern legends and folk tales about haunted houses, supernatural events, and the appearances of ghosts

In this book Tiya Miles explores the popular yet troubling phenomenon of "ghost tours," frequently promoted and experienced at plantations, urban manor homes, and cemeteries throughout the South. As a staple of the tours, guides entertain paying customers by routinely relying on stories of enslaved black specters. But who are these ghosts? Examining popular sites and stories from these tours, Miles shows that haunted tales routinely appropriate and skew African American history to produce representations of slavery for commercial gain. "Dark tourism" often highlights the most sensationalist and macabre aspects of slavery, from salacious sexual ties between white masters and black women slaves to the physical abuse and torture of black bodies to the supposedly exotic nature of African spiritual practices. Because the realities of slavery are largely absent from these tours, Miles reveals how they continue to feed problematic "Old South" narratives and erase the hard truths of the Civil War era. In an incisive and engaging work, Miles uses these troubling cases to shine light on how we feel about the Civil War and race, and how the ghosts of the past are still with us.

Venezuela may be home to a whistling ghost! El Sibón wanders the country, gathering bones for his collection. If you hear his whistle, run away! This is one of three creepy ghost stories introduced in this book about the haunted tales of South America. Additional features show off the origin of each story, introduce a possible explanation, and highlight another similar story from another part of the world.

Nancy Roberts has often been described to as the "First Lady of American Folklore" and the title is well deserved. Throughout her decades-long career, Roberts documented supernatural experiences and interviewed hundreds of people about their recollections of encounters with the supernatural. This nationally renowned writer began her undertaking in this ghostly realm as a freelance writer for the Charlotte Observer. Encouraged by Carl Sandburg, who enjoyed her stories and articles, Roberts wrote her first book in 1958. Aptly called a "custodian of the twilight zone" by Southern Living magazine, Roberts based her suspenseful stories on interviews and her rich knowledge of American folklore. Her stories were always rooted in history, which earned her a certificate of commendation from the American Association of State and Local History for her books on the Carolinas and Appalachia.

Your guide to the spookiest spots in Dixie

Phantom Army of the Civil War compiles thirty-five tales of first-hand encounters with specters and phantoms, ghost-ridden swamps, and the eerie mansions that populate the haunted South. The stories span of more than forty years; and the rich, emotional, often violent history of the American South certainly adds something unique to this collection. Many of the spirits fought and died during the Civil War, our bloodiest and most costly conflict. Others lived long before then, helping in America's fight for independence from the British. Not every story deals with wars or battles, there are tales of lost and betrayed love, and of ancestors trying to protect the living from beyond the grave. Authors of these real-life ghost stories range from the average person to the professional paranormal investigator. This unique and varied collection will offer something different for everyone, whether you believe in ghosts or not.

In this Dixie seance of the most frightening ghost tales from each of the Southern's states, a folklorist presents a variety of classic and contemporary stories--ranging from Revolutionary War events to cars parked on lovers lane--exactly as they were recorded. Bibliography. Index.