Weird Georgia

Georgia Myths and Legends explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and mysteries in Georgia’s history. Each episode included in the book is a story unto itself, and the tone and style of the book is lively and easy to read for a general audience interested in Georgia history. From the puzzle of lost confederate gold to a woman who mysteriously spent her life waving at more than 50,000 passing ships, this selection of stories from Georgia's past explores some of the Peach State's most compelling mysteries and debunks some of its most famous myths.

Settle in for a juicy bushel of Peach State bafflement. Turn a metaphorical shovel of red Georgia clay to find a world teeming with inexplicable, head-scratching mystery. The legends here predate the state's founding by hundreds of years, when Native people settled in and began grappling with the land. Now treasure hunters ply Civil War sites for the Confederacy's lost treasure, spectral soldiers galloping nearby. Hairy beasts lope through dark woods, the night sky above bustling with disconcerting activity like the UFO once spotted by Jimmy Carter. In this Georgia, psychics help convict murderers. The super strict and thoroughly deceased former owner of Savannah's Telfair Museum punishes rule breakers, and a 10-foot 'squatch emits a pungent stench at Minnehaha Falls. Join folklorist Alan Brown on a jaunt through the most confounding elements of Georgia's long history.

Each county in the vast territory of southern Georgia has a haunted history. The old Barber-Tucker Inn in Colquitt County and the renovated former Scottish Inn in Bryan County host ghostly guests. A profane spirit disturbed a house's former residents with vile language. The Hairy Man still searches a swamp for his long-lost son. A Dodge County ghost twice saved the lives of a family's children, while one in Liberty County mysteriously extinguished a fire that would have destroyed a historic house. Ghosts in Randolph County and Echols County provided the living with evidence sufficient to convict their murderers. Join author Jim Miles as he recounts stories from the fifty-seven counties of the region.

From Atlanta to the Coastal Plain, Georgia is rich with tales of the supernatural drawn from the state's historic past.

The author of Georgia’s Civil War ghost books proves that the Peach State’s phantoms come in many forms. Every portion of central Georgia is thoroughly haunted. Tobe, the ghost of Orna Villa in Oxford, had an appetite for biscuits. Angry spirits near Augusta drove a family from a beautiful old home. Paranormal entities in a home cobbled together from three old houses created a tapestry of supernatural events. People still seek advice from a fortuneteller dead half a century, and a long-deceased girl hitches a ride home on the same night each year. Author Jim Miles presents a ghost story from each of the fifty-one counties in this historic region. “Every county in Georgia has at least one ghost story, and author Jim Miles has gathered them into three books. . . . Miles traveled to all 159 counties, as well as two counties that ‘went extinct’ during the Great Depression. The completion of the books was a 10-year project for Miles . . . The stories span all of Georgia history, from one with its origins 2,000 years ago to the latest in ‘scientific ghost hunting.’” —Gainesville Times

Celebrate the richness and diversity of the United States of America in this exciting series.

Chilling tales from north Georgia, where even the outhouses are haunted! North Georgia is home to more than its fair share of ghosts, from scenic antebellum mansions to restaurants, mills and even an outhouse. Reverend Robert William Bigham of Coweta County received a supernatural visit from his wife after her untimely death. The night watchman at an Elberton cotton mill became acquainted with three haunting visitors in his four decades at the mill. Hikers on Lookout Mountain were surprised to discover a mysterious house eerily decorated with magical symbols and bones. Author Jim Miles reveals the most terrifying ghost stories from each county in the region.